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THE DE MONARCHIA
OF
DANTE ALIGHIERI
tr
THE DE MONARCHIA
OF
DANTE ALIGHIERI
BDITED WTTH TRANSLATION AND NOTES
BY
AURELIA HENRY
Soleva Roma, che il buon mondo feo,
Duo Soli aver, che Tuna e l'altra strada
Facom redere, e del mondo e di Deo.
Purgatorio, xvi. io6
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
(tbe lM\KtftHìe prei^i^, Cambriùfle
1904
.12-
COPYRIGHT 1904 BY AURELIA HENRY
ALL, RIGHTS RESERVED
Puhlished September IQ04
13
TO
MY MOTHER
THIS LITTLE VOLUME OF FIRST FRUITS IS
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
PREFACE
The De Monarchia is easily accessible in Latin
editionSjbut an English version is practically un-
obtainable, at least by the American student of
Dante. To be sure, it has twice been done into
English, once by Mr. F. J. Church (Macmillan,
1878), and again by Mr. P. H. Wicksteed
(Hull, 1896). If the former translation had
not been long out of print, and the latter had not
been published for private circulation only, the
present volume would have less excuse for
being. But with the growing interest in Dante,
and the increasing number of Dante students
in this country, the demand for ready access to
ali the poet*s worlc becomes imperative. It is
in response to this demand of the American
student of Dante in and out of college that this
translation has been undertaken.
In the notes which accompany the text the
translator has had in mind chiefly the needs and
interests of the literary student. Although the
purpose of the annotation is to make the treatise
vili PREFACE
clear in whole and in part by explanation and
citation, it includes the efFort to indicate at every
possible point the relation existing between the
De Monarchia and the Divine Comedy, the Con-
vitOy and the Letters, Many of the notes may
be of little use to the student of civil government
or to the general reader, but it is believed their
value to the literary student will prove sufficient
reason for their presence. The source of Dante*s
theories is noted wherever practicable, his debt
to Aristotle, to the Hebrew Scriptures, and to
Thomas Aquinas needing most frequent men-
tion. In the cross-references to Dante's other
Works the translator has endeavored to point
out as exhaustively as possible the recurrence
of favorite ideas, and even of favorite figures of
speech, as in the case of the metaphor of the
seal and the wax.'
The references to Aristotle, and quotations
from him, are almost without exception based
on the Bohn translations of Aristotle. Biblical
references are to the Authorized Version, except
where indication is made to the contrary. In ci-
I. See Professor Cook*s list of the passages, and references
to Aristotle, in Mod. Lang. Notes 15 (1900). 256 (511,
512).
PREFACE ix
tations from the Summa ^heologiae^ the Latin text
(Bloud and Barrai, Paris, 1880) has been used,
save in the few cases where the translation of the
Ethics by Joseph Rickaby (New York, 1896) is
indicated. In the quo tations from the Divine
Comedy^ the edition and translation of A. J. But-
ler (Macmillan, 1891-92) has invariably been
made use of ; in quotations from the Convito y the
translation of Miss Katharine Hillard (Kegan
Paul, Trench & Co., 1889), and in those from
the LetterSy that of C. L. Latham (Houghton,
Mifflin & Co., 1891).
The principal Latin texts of the De Monar-
chia are those edited by Fraticelli, Florence,
1860 ; Witte, Vienna, 1874 ; Giuliani, Florence,
1878 ; and Moore, Oxford, 1894. The Oxford
text has been followed without exception, though
in a few cases variant readings bave been given
in the notes. The earliest edition of the De
Monarchia was printed at Basle in 1559. It
had been translated into Italian in the fìfteenth
century by Marsilio Ficino. There are two
German versions, that of Kannegiesser, Leipzig,
1 845, and that of Hubatsch, Berlin, 1 872. The
two English translations bave already been men-
tioned. Of them it only remains to add that a
X PREFACE
part of Church's translation is reprinted in Old
South LeafletSy No. 123.
The Bibliography includes books likely to be
helpful to the reader of the Be Monarchia or
the more general Dante student.
In the notes I am indebted to many commen-
taries and reference books. Moore's Studies in
Dante, First Series, was indispensable for classi-
cal sources, Witte's Latin edition of 1874 for
mediaeval sourceSjand Toynbee's Dante Diction-
ary for general reference.
I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Charles
Alien Dinsmore of Boston for his kindly inter-
est and assistance in this translation, and to Dr.
Albert S. Cook of Yale University, from whom
carne the first suggestion of the undertaking,
and a continued encouragement and aid with-
out which its completion would not have been
possible.
A. H.
Yale University, August, 1903.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction xv
BOOK I
WHETHER TEMPORAL MONARCHY IS NECES-
SARY FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE WORLD
,^X( Introduction 3
JJ? To what end does government cxist among ali -
men ? 5
III. To actualize the whole capacity of the possible in-
tellect in speculation and action 8
IV. To attain this end humanity requires universal peace 1 5
V. When several things are ordained for one end, one
^ ^ must rule and the others obey 1 8 —
^yiC The order which is found in the parts of the hu-
man race should be found in the race as a whole 22 • *;
^11^ The relation of kingdoms and nations to the mon- Ijj^/v^^'^'^^^^^
arch should be that of humanity to God "^ 24
Vili. Men are made in the image of God ; but God is
^^T^ one 25 ^
DO Men, as the sons of Heaven, should follow in the
footprints of Heaven 27
X. In order to settle ali disputes a supreme judge is
necessary 29
fXlJ The world is best ordcred when in it Justice is
^--^ preéminent 3 1
XII. Humanity is ordered for the bcst when most frce 40
xii CONTENTS
XIII. He who is best adapted for ruling is the best di-
^ rector of other men 46
y5CIVJ What one agent can do is better done by one
— -^ than by many 50
XV. In every sort of thing that is best which is most one 54
XVI. Christ willed to be born in the fullness of time
when Augustus was Monarch 59
BOOK II
WHETHER THE ROMAN PEOPLE RIGHTFULLY
APPROPRIATED THE OFFICE OF MONARCHY
I. Introduction 67
II. What God wills in human society is to be held as
right 70
III. The Romans as the noblest people deserved pre-
^^^^ cedence before ali others 76
/IVy Because the Roman Empire was aided by mira-
cles it was willed of God 84
The Roman people in subduing the world had
in view the good of the state and therefore the
end of Right 88
VI. He who purposes Right proceeds according to
Right 96
VII. ^; The Roman people were ordamedfor Empire by
/Vin^ Thedecree of God showed that Empire belonged
to the Roman people 104
IX. The Romans were victorious over ali contestants
for Empire 1 1 o
X. That which is acquired by single combat is ac-
quired with Right 1 1 6
>9
CONTENTS xiii
Xl^ The single combats of the Roman people i 2Q^
XII.j Christ in being born proved thai the authority of
the Roman Empire was just 124
XI ri. Christ in dying confirmed the jurisdiction of the
Roman Empire over ali humanity 128
BOOK III
WHETHER THE AUTHORITY OF THE ROMAN
MONARCH DERIVES FROM GOD IMMEDIATELY
OR FROM SOME VICAR OF GOD
I. Introduction 135
/1^ God wills not that which is counter to the intcn-
tion of nature 1 3 7
III. Of the three classes of our opponents and the too
great authority many ascribe to tradition 140
/tVy The opponents* argument adduced from the sun
and moon 148
V. Argument from the precedence of Levi over
Judah 157
VI. Argument from the election and deposition of
Saul by Samuel l 5 8
VII. Argument from the oblation of the Magi 161
Vili. Argument from the prerogative of the keys con-
signed to Peter 164
(IX^ Argument from the two swords 168
A. Argument from the donation of Constantine 174
XI. Argument from the summoning of Charles the
Great by Pope Hadrian 181
5QI. Argument from reason 183
(XlìL) The Authority of the Church is not the source of
Imperiai authority 187
xiv CONTENTS
(XIVJ The Church received power of transference
neither from God, from herself, nor from any
Emperor 1 90
/ XVJ The prerogative of conferring authority upon the
^^,,.-s_^_^^ Empire is contrary to the nature of the Church 1 93
(XVI. JThe authority of the Empire derives from God
'^-—"'"'* directly 1 96
BIBLIOGRAPHY 209
INDEX 213
INTRODUCTION
/. M^/^/^y
INTRODUCTION
He who was " the spokesman of the Middle
Ages," who saw and told of his fellow-men and
their destiny, uttered a message not for one cen-
tury of time only, nor of one significance. In
each of Dante's larger works, the Vita Nuova,
the Convito, the De Monarchia, and the Divine
Comedy, this message is pronounced in one or
ali of its three phases, the religious, the philo-
sophical, and the politicai. Because no author
ever wrote with such singleness of purpose, nor
through such diverse mediums carried to com-
pletion a solemn intent, the series of his pro-
ductions are bound together as inevitably as the
links of a chain, lending to one another meaning
and value. And because these productions are
so similar in purpose, if various in manner of
expression, we may cali them a unified message,
and may apply to them ali the words of expla-
nation the poet sent to Can Grande when he
presented to him " the sublime Canticle of the
Comedy which is graced with the title of Para-
diso." " The aim of the whole and the part,"
xvìii INTRODUCTION
he wrote, "is to remove those living in this life
from a state of misery, and to guide them to a
state of happiness."
The recognition by the student of this desire
to know and to help his brother man, which
gives to Dante^s writings a loftiness ofjune^nd
elevation ^Tclìafàr t Le i ihaL 'sbr^nturies bave
failed to obscure, is the preventer of much mis-
understanding, and the first essential to appre-
ciative interpretation. The keynote of philan-
thropic endeavor Dante strikes early in the
ConvitOy where he says, " I, knowing the miser-
able Hfe of those whom I bave left behind me,
and moved to mercy by the sweetness of that
which I bave gained little by little, while not for-
getting myself, bave reserved for those wretched
ones something which I bave already for some
time held before their eyes/' And again in the
Be Monarchia the author determines to con-
cern himself " in laboring for posterity, in order
that future generations may be enriched" by his
eiForts. The message that Dante felt called
upon to deliver to the world is, then, virtually
the same in the fourworks we bave mentioned,
but in the Vita Nuova the religious aspect is
paramount, in the Convito the philosophical, in
INTRODUCTION xix
the De Monarchia the politicai, while the Divine
Comedy concerns itself wìth the message as a
whole. We might say that each of the first three
writings has its own melody, a simple motif;
in the Comedy the three themes combining swell
into a movement of wondrous and complex har-
mony. And we might sum up the thought of
the entire message in the words of Matthew:
" Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness, and ali these things shall be
added unto you."
Lowell, recognizing the ministering spirit of
Dante, has said : " There is proof upon proof
that he believed himse lf invested with a divid e
mission. Like the Hebrew prophets,with whose
writings "his whole soul was imbued, it was back
to the old worship and the God of the fathers
that he called his people ; and not Isaiah him-
self was more destitute of that humor, that sense
of ludicrous contrast, which is an essential in
the composition of a sceptic."
Or, to put the matter more concretely. Dante
had looked abroad on mediaeval society, had
engaged in the practical afFairs of Italy, had
grown to feel that he understood conditions bet-
ter than other men, and so believed that he was
XX INTRODUCTION
called of God to point out to men the right
I road. He beheld the two institutions that had
for centuries striven to unite ali Europe in a
common interest — the Empire that had been
revived under Charles the Great,and the Church
that had attained to supremacy under Gregory
VII — and he realized how sadly each had failed
of its ambition. He saw, further, that despite
these efForts there had come about in Europe
the formation of nationalities, each differing in
language and character, each having its own
peculiar government, each torn by internecine
strife, and each at times warring with the oth-
ers. And he, together with other thinkers of
that period, longed for unity among men, for
unity that seemed never to be made a reality.
Yet Dante believed and proclaimed that such
a unity could come about, but in one way only,
through a regeneration of society and a uniting
of politicai interests under one head independent
of the Church. This is the politicai aspect of
Dante's message.
But the De Monarchia^ though it embodies
Dante*s politicai ideals, can be read understand-
ingly and sympathetically only when these
politicai ideals are related to those of his reli-
INTRODUCTION xxi
gion as set forth in his other works. These in
turn depend upon his theory of the universe
and of moral order. To make this matter clear,
we will state briefly th^ fundament^^ prìnrìpìpa (
u pon wh ich_Dante c onstructed his theory . For //
him the universe b egins a nd ^nds with G od :^
it begins with God the Fir§iÌause, the Primal , >s
Motor, the Maker, the Alpha of ali things ; ii^"^
terminates in God the Ultim ate E nd, the Great .
Arbiter, theChief Good,the Omega of ali things.
The earth, on which dwells man, is at the cen-
tre of the created universe. About it are the
nine moving heavens, according to the Ptole-
maic astronomy, comprehended in the tenth,
the Empyrean, the heaven which is at perfect
rest because therein dwells God and Divine
Love, and nothing is left for this heaven to de-
sire.^,j;^Die Empyrean " is the sovereign edifìce
of the universe, in which ali the world is in-
cluded, and beyond which is nothing ; and it is
not in space, but was formed solely in the Primal
Mìni^' Not less fundamental than the unitary j
concept of the universe is that of the duality off
man's nature. This duality is not only in man*s»
nature, but in ali things pertaining to him, his
I. Conv. 2. 4. I.
^'
xxii INTRODUCTION
mode of existence, his mode of acquiring know-
ledge. That is, man is endowed with a twofold
nature, a perishable and an imperishable, a soul
Iand a body. He therefore lives for two ends,
happiness on earth and happiness to be attained
m heaven. Earthl y beatitud e is reached by the
r ight ordering of t e mpo r al affair s ; heavenly
b eatitude is made possible by Pa pal guidance
in matters of the spiritual realm . Moreover, his
life is active or contemplative, governed by rea-
son or faith, enlightened by philosophy or reve-
lation. Armed with these two ideas, we can
approach the work under consideration.
Starting from man's dual nature, the De Mo-
narchia sets forth the manner in which the earthly
happiness of the human race may be acquired by
the right ordering of temporal affairs, the over-
lordship of a sole Monarch, the presence in the
world of a Universal Empire. The body of
the work is divided into three books, in each
of which is expounded one side of the question
at issue:Jfirst, the necessity of Universal Em-
pire is provedi^secon^, the right of the Romans
to imperiai authorit)^lhird, the direct bequeath-
ing by God of this authority to the Romans
without the mediation of the Church. In the
INTRODUCTION xxiii
first chapter the author says, "The knowledge of
temporal Monarchy, one of the most important
and most obscure of subjects, is brought forth
from its hiding-place and explained for the good
of the world."
The first book of the De Mona rchia pro-
nounces that that which is the purpose or end
of the human race is " to actualize continually
the entire capacity of the possible intellect, pri-
marily in speculation, . . . secondarily in ac-
tion ; " that " in the cairn and tranquillity of
peace the human race fulfills most freely and
easily its given work ; " that " universa! peace is
the best of those things ordained for our beati
tude ; " that " to the shepherds sounded from
on high the message, not of riches, nor pleasures,
nor honors, nor length of life, nor health, nor
beauty, but peace." ' Peace can come, Dante in-
sists, only when there is one Monarch to own
ali, to rule ali, to embrace in his dominion ali
kingdoms and states, to harmonize opposing
princes and factions, and to judge witH Justice
ali temporal questions. And let us not forget
that Dante's passionate plea for peace arises
amid the uninterrupted turbulence and strife of
the never-to-be-pacified Italy of his day.
I. De Mon. i. 4.
%
?
xxiv INTRODUCTION
<^In taking up in the second hook the ques-
tion of Rome's foreordinàtìon~fbr supremacy,
Dante makes use of what was in his day a start-
ling premise — that, in the same manner in which
^ tjie Jews were the chosen race for receiving and
dispensing the religion of God to the peoples of
the earth, so the Romans were the race chosen
to receive and dispense the knowledge of law
and justicQilI^nd in the proof at various points
evidencéls adduced as indisputably correct from
Roman as well as Jew, from Virgil and Ovid,
Lucan and Livy, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
History and poetic fiction have equal consid-
eration and equal weight. To questÌQja ,J«»-
ìi au thorities never occurs to Dante. Especially
from Virgil, " our divme poet, he takes his idea
of the Roman Empire — from Virgil, who in his
Aeneìd and Georgìcs sang of Rome, the con-)
queror and civilizer of the world ; Rome, of
origin divine, of antiquity great, ofduration eter-
nai, of jurisdiction universal. That Dante^s rea-
soning throughout this second division of the
I treatise is often based on unauthentic statements,
s^i ") that therefore some of his proofs are of no last-
Ung value, it is unnecessary to emphasize. Nor
less strange than those that precede it is the
INTRODUCTION xxv
final statement, the climax of the argument
of the second hook, that Christ by His birth
under^the edict of the Emperor Augustus, and <ì^*^ .
by His death under the vicar of the Emperor
Tiberius, confirmed the universal jurisdiction of
the Roman Empire.
It ireasy to object to the conclusions of the
De Monarchia thus far, and to say that the end of
man's being and God's foreordinaJÌon gf the^o-
man supremacy were fine subjects for. thejorizing,
but that they could not carry any remedy fQr_
the evils in mediaeval Italy. It is easy to answer
to them that peace was practically impossible
when the Roman and Teutonic elements of soci-
ety were not yet fused in the peoples of Europe;
that the Roman Empire in its ancient sense had
died when Romulus Augustulus laid down the
sceptre in 476 ; that Dante entirely misappre-
hended the spirit of the ahifieht RomatTsuprem-
acy ; that, except under emperors of extraor^
dinary talents, the Holy Roman Empire ever
since its revival had been " a tradition, a fancied
revival of departed glories ; " and that, despite
the endeavors of Imperialists and Papists, prac-
tically ali power was in the hands of the nations
as such, so that during Dante's life the Empire
xxvi INTRODUCTION
was growing more German, and the Papacy more
French. As Mr. Bryce says, "In the days of
Charles and Otto, the Empire, in so far as it
was anything more than a tradition from times
gone by, rested solely upon the belief that with
the visible Church there must be coextensive a
single Christian state under one head and gov-
icrnor." Yet in the first two books, whatever
quaint absurdities be present, Dante promulgates
the doctrine of international peace, a doctrine
that even the twentieth century does not despise.
But the invaluable part of Dante's politicai
message, and the pith of the Be Monarchiay lies
in the third division, where are discussed the
relations of the Empire and Papacy, and where
Dante publishes his belief in the separate exist-
ence of the Church and State. Having recog-
nized the presence of two chief governmental
elements in Europe, having accounted for their
presence by the design of God to meet the re- ^
quirements of man's dual nature, and having ac-
knowledged that these two elements are wrong-
fully at Constant war the one with the other.
Dante proceeds to show that they are both from
God for the good of man, but with functions
disti net and diiFerent. Especially does he prove
INTRODUCTION xxvii
that the one i n no way dep ends for its right to
e xist upon the other. The Papacy, he mainta ins,
i s a spirit ual power, soverei^njDver the souls
a nd the spiritual welfare of men, and the Em-
pire is a temperai power, sovereign over the
lives and bodily welfare of men. If Empire and
Papacy exercised their authority in their own
realms, the world would have no more war, than
which there is nothing more to be desired in
this world.
So much for the argument of this treatise,
which has been called <tshc creed of Dante*s
Ghibellinis gg)' This designation is only true in
part, for, as Cacciaguida prophesies in the seven-
teenth canto of the Paradiso, " To thee it shall
be honorable to have made thee a party by thy-
self." And Dante, though a Ghibelline, was not
so in ali details of his politicai creed. Much
that this party did was beyond the pale of his
sympathy, and he rebukes them harshly more
than once in the Divine Comedy, Seeing that they
have used the Imperiai ensign and influence in
contests where there was no question of Empire,
he writes, " Let the Ghibellines work, let them
work under another ensign, for he ever follows
that amiss, who separates Justice and it." '
I. Par. 6. 103.
xxviii INTRODUCTION
The names Guelf and Ghibelline stand for
the two parties that in the name of Pope and
Emperor fought so strenuously on the soil of
Italy for politicai supremacy. On the one side,
the highest power, the right of investiture, was
claimed by the Emperor, who was the nomi-
nai leader of the Ghibellines ; on the other,
the Popes, since the eleventh century and the
strengthening of Papal control under Gregory
VII, had persistently claimed that right for the
Church, and the Guelf party fought to estab-
lish this claim. But it must be borne in mind
that in the Italy of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries these party names were oftenused on
occasions and in disturbances where the princi-
ples for which they stood had no place, and
where the purpose and end of the strife were
purely selfish and personal.
j In general, however, the tendencies of the
' two parties were clear enough. The Imperiai
power, looking back toward its greater day, re-
membering that the Roman Emperor had once
been Pontifex Maximus, and that authority
must stay with the few, and those by precedent
the nobles of ancient name, arrogated to itself
ali power, and maintained in ali contests the
INTRODUCTION xxix
cause of the nobles against the commons, the
claims of antique titles against those of new-
won wealth. The Church, moved by the true
democracy of Christianity, as well as by the»
selfish wish to keep her hand on the pulse of
the nations, and to prevent a centralizing in-
fluence in northern Italy, maintained the cause
of the municipahties, fostered the independ-
ence of the cities, discouraged unity of action
and aim among them, and at times sought to
release whole nations from allegiance to their •
king.
The clearest statement of the claims of the
Church in the fourteenth century is found in the
Unum Sanctam of Boniface Vili, published in
1302. Boniface put his theory into practice
more than once, and sometimes with amazing
success. It is said that, seated upon the throne
of Constantine and arrayed in crown, sceptre,
and sword, he announced himself to the throngs
of pilgrims that flocked to Rome at the jubilee
in 1300, as "Caesar and Emperor." He arbi-
trated difficulties between Edward of England
and Philip of France, and finally declared the
latter excommunicate and ofFered his throne to
Albert of Hapsburg, then Emperor.
XXX INTRODUCTION
The Imperiai rights are best enunciateci in the
De Monarchia^ which, as we shall try to show,
was written in ali probability to help establish
over Italy, independently of the Church, a right-
ful ruler in the temporal afFairs of men, a ruler
pictured as ideal in an ideal condition of society.
The Golden Bull issued by Charles IV at Frank-
fort in 1356 takes up consti tu tional and legai
points that our treatise never pauses to consider.
We learn much, besides, of Imperiai rights from
the rulings of various Emperors. The career of
such a man as Frederick II in the preceding
century shows how much the Empire could de-
mand and how much obtain under a powerful
leader. That of Henry VII in the fourteenth
shows that the time had gone by for Imperiai
dominion, and how much the Empire could
ask and how little obtain even under the leader-
ship of a great man.
So Dante*s De Monarchia is Ghibelline^ in-
asmuch as it denies to the Church supreme
command in temporal things, and recognizes a
universal Monarch in temporal afFairs ; but it is
a purer Ghibellinism than that of the party
at large, for he saw Church and State only as /
separate powers, viewed Pope and Emperor as'
INTRODUCTION xxxì
equal in rank but as w ieldi ng authorit y in di fFer-
ent r ealms ; and under this twofold rule he pro-
phesied, with enthusiasm his party could not
share, that the human race would live in the cairn
and tranquillity of universal peace.
Jlurning from the treatise for a moment
to a consideration of Dante himself, there is
something of deep pathos in the thought that,
from the sol itude of an exile bro ugh t upon him
by the warring of his countrymen, he should so
continually and earnestly plead for peace — that
its blessings, now denied to him and to ali the
human race, might come upon the w qrM) How
far he traveled in search of " the best of those
things ordained for our beatitude," we learn in
another work. He declares to the spiri ts in
Ante-Purgatory, " If aught that I can do pleases
you, O spirits born to bliss, do ye say it, and I \ /LKJK
will do it for the sake of that peace which makes \ \
me, following the feet of a guide thus fashioned, 1 ^'^
seek it from world to world/' ' And though he-^^ /r^^^
could not bring peace to self-willed Italy, he
found it for himself in unquestioning obedi-
ence to the will of God, and sang forth his tri-
umph and Joy in the immortai line, " In His
I. Purg, 5. 6i.
xxxii INTRODUCTION
will is our peace." It is not strange that a sym-
pathetic and imaginative mìnd should have
drawn the famous picture of the seeker of peace
among the mountains, at the Monastery of
Santa Croce del Corvo. Though Fra Ilario*s
apocryphal letter is so well known, I quote the
description given therein : "Hither he carne,
passing through the diocese of Luni, moved
either by the religion of the place, or by some
other feeling. And seeing him, as yet unknown
to me and to ali my brethren, I questioned him
of his wishings and his seekings there. He
moved not ; but stood silently contemplating
the columns and arches of the cloister. And
again I asked him what he wished, and whom
he sought. Then, slowly turning his head, and
looking at the friars and at me, he answered
' Peace.' "
The date of the De Monarchia is uncertain
as far as historical evidence is concerned, and
any attempt to establish unquestionably the time
of its composition is met with insurmountable
obstacles. To be sure, the earliest biographers
of Dante mention the work, and Boccaccio gives
some interesting notes of its history, but Boc-
caccio is also the only one of them who attempts
INTRODUCTION xxxiii
to assign a period for its composition. He
writes in his Life of Dante : ' —
" At the coming of Henry VII, this illus-
trious author wrote another hook, in Latin prose,
called the De Monarchia, This he divided into
three books, in accordance with three questions
which he settled therein. . . . This hook, sev-
era! years after the death oi its aut hor, was
cond emn ed by Ca rdinal Beltrando of Pog-
S^Ì^> pgpal lega te in the parts of Lombardy,
during the pontificate of John XXII. The rea-
son of the condemnation was this. Louis, Duke
of Bavaria, had been chosen King of the Ro-
mans by the electors of Germany, and carne to
Rome for his coronation, against the pleasure of
the aforenamed Pope John. And while there,
against ecclesiastica! ordinances he created pope
a minor friar called Brother Piero della Corvara,
besides many cardinals and bishops ; and had
himself crowned there by this new PontifF.
" Now inasmuch as his authority was ques-
tioned in many cases, he and his followers,
having found this hook by Dante, began to
make use of its arguments to defend themselves
and their authority ; whereby the hook, which
I . Earlìest Lives of Dante, tr. James R. Smith, p. 69.
xxxìv INTRODUCTION
was scarcely known up to this time,became very
famous. Afterwards, however, when Louis had
returned to Germany, and his followers, espe-
cially the clergy, began to decline and disperse,
the aforesaid Cardinal, since there was none to
oppose him therein, seized the hook and con-
demned it in public to the flames, charging that
it contained heretical matters.
" In like manner he attempted to burn the
bones of the author, and would have done so,
to the eternai infamy and confusion of his own
memory, had he not been opposed by a good
and noble Fiorentine knight, by name Pino
della Tosa. This man and Messer Ostagio da
Polenta were great in the sight of the Cardi-
nal, and happened to be in Bologna, where this
matter was being mooted."
But if Boccaccio unhesitatingly names the
occasion and approximate date of the De Me-
nare hia, Lionardo Bruni (13 68-1444), who
wrote a biography of Dante somewhat later, dis-
misses the treatìse with brief but unfavorable
comment. " He also wrote in Latin prose and
verse: in prose, a hook entitled De Monarchia,
written in unadorned fashion, with no beauty of
style." We will not stop to contradict Bruni's
INTRODUCTION xxxv
criticism, but merely note that his statement has
no chronological value.
Giovanni Villani, the first historian of Flor-
ence, gives a most appreciative but far too brief
account of the poet in his Cronica: ' " He also
wrote the Monarchia^ where he treats of the
offices of popes and emperors." That is ali the
information Villani vouchsafes on our subject.
If we could believe Boccaccio implicitly, any
further search for the date of the De Monarchia
would be idle ; but Boccaccio has proved himself
untrustworthy in many instances, and in this
case, whether his statement rests on his own as-
sumption, whether he took it from current tra-
dition, or whether he knew whereof he spoke,
we shall never be able to prove absolutely.
However, we can to some extent strengthen or
weaken Boccaccio*s claim to belief by internai
evidence in the writing itself. Unfortunately,
there is a singular absence of such evidence in
the De Monarchia, This book stands unique
among the works of Dante in its impersonal na-
ture, whereas his writings generally are marked
by their strongly autobiographic character. In
I. See lib. 9, cap. i 36 ; tr. Napier's Fiorentine His tory yhV.
I , eh. 1 6 ; also Dinsmore, Aids to the Study of Dante, p. 6 1 .
xxxvi INTRODUCTION
it is no personal reference definite enough to
indicate any certain time in the author's life ;
there is no unmistakable allusion to contempo-
rary events ; nor is there mention of any other
of his own writings either finished or planned.
Nevertheless, the fact that the hook is in Latin
and is of polemical nature, the parallelism of
expression between this and other works, the
confession of politicai experience in the first
hook, of changed politicai views in the second,
and the indirect allusion to his own exile in
the third, are clues which various scholars have
followed up with zest, and from which they
have arrived at three dififering conclusions as
to the time of its composition.
Some Dante students think the work was writ-
ten previous to Dante's exile, January 27, 1302,
most probably during his politicai life in Flor-
ence ; others believe it to be a heralding or
commemoration of the coming of Henry of
Luxemburg to Italy, and would place it between
1308 and 13 14; a third class consider it more
probable that it is one of the last labors of
the author, and assign it to some period between
1318 and 1321.
Scartazzini has stated very clearly the points
INTRODUCTION xxxvii
in favor of each of the three views, and com-
mented on each in turn.' But before we review
his line of argument, let us notice some of the
more general facts of this internai evidence.
That the language of the De Monarchia is
Latin puts it at once into comparison with the
uncompleted Latin writing Be Vulgati Eh-
quentia, But as the date of this second treatise
is as uncertain as the first, it can in no way help
US. The second treatise must have been in pro-
cess of writing as late as 1308, while Villani and
others date it 132 1. Next, is there any marked
change in opinion or power between this and
Dante's other works, any difFerences that would
betray immaturity of judgment, growth of in-
sight, or even retrogression ? No; as might be
drawn from our generalizations at the beginning
of this introduction, the content agrees in ali
essentials with the author's other writings. In
the maturity of its religious faith ; in the know-
ledge of classic and Hebrew authors ; in the
ideal civil polity outlined ; in the concept of
the universe and moral order ; in the theory
which make s cupidity the basic sin of mankind,
and free will his most divine gift, this politicai
I . Scartazzini, jl Companion to Dante, pp. 318 ff.
xxxviii INTRODUCTION
document agrees with the Convito and the Di-
vine Comedy. So much alike are they that, espe-
cially in the case of the Convito^ the order of
ideas is at times the same. The phraseology
is in some places identical with that of Dante's
three letters written during Henry's sojourn in
Italy, those written To the Princes and Peoples
of Italyy "To the Florentines^ and ^o Henry VIIJ^
Nowfor Scartazzini's opinion. He gives six
reasons for the theory that the date was prior
to the exile in 1302. (i) As in the Vita Nuova,
some scholars see in the De Monarchia no allu-
sion to Dante's banishment, in a failure to men-
tion which it would difFer from the Convito, the
De Vulgari Eloquentia, and the Comedy. (2) The
opening paragraph is too modest for Dante,
unless at the beginning of his literary career.
(3) The reference made in the first canto of
the Inferno to Dante's beautiful style must have
been to the De Monarchia. (4) If written sub-
sequent to 1302, the treatise would certainly
contain an allusion to the Unam Sanctam of that
year. (5) The discussion of nobility^ differs
from that of the Convito,^ while the view in
I. Latham, Letters ^, 6, 7. 2. De Moti. 2. 3.
3. Conv. 4. 3.
INTRODUCTION xxxix
the Convito accords with that expressed in the
Paradiso,"^ (6) Were it not true that Dante's
work was written before or very early in the
fourteenth century, his assertion would be false
that the subject of Monarchy had been treated
by no one hitherto.
Scartazzini answers each of these objec-
tions: —
(i) In De Monarchia 2* 2» 12, Dante says of
those who " boast themselves white sheep of
the Master*s flock," that " in order to carry out
their crimes, these sons of iniquity defile their
niother, banish their brethren, and scorn judg-
ments brought against them." We can find
no excuse for the bitterness of this statement
unless the writing was after his exile, prompted
by the sting of present pain.
(2) To boast of one*s experience in public af-
fairs, to undertake to enrich posterity from one's
store of wisdom, as Dante does in the first par-
agraph to the De Monarchia^ Scartazzini thinks
can scarcely be called overwhelming modesty.
Besides, the Convito and the De Vulgati Elo-
quentia were not brought to their present state
of completion until the coming of Henry VII
I. Par, 16. I ff.
xl INTRODUCTION
in 13 1 1, and Dante's literary achievement would
not be large until such time as these writings
were known. This would allow the De Mo-
narchia a date as late as this in which to have
made its appearance, and yet precede them.
But is it probable that both these works would
fail to mention the De Monarchia^ had it been
completed prior to them? Besides, we must
not forget that the author's change from Guelf-
ism to Ghibellinism took place before this writ-
ing, as is evident from the first chapter of the
second book. And though it is impossible to
assert at what time such a change took place, it
could not have been in the author's early years.
(3) The allusion to Dante's beautiful style
in the first canto of the Inferno^ and to the fame
it had brought him, is doubtless not to the De
Monarchia^ but to the early and beautiful lyrics.
(4) The whole argument of the third book is
virtually a reply to the Unam Sanctam^ though
that bull is not and could not well have been
mentioned by name.
(5) As for the alleged contradiction in the
treatment of the nature of nobility, it is evident
that the writer's purpose was not the same in
both contexts. In theZ)^ Monarchia he is speak-
INTRODUCTION xli
ing of nobility that gives the possessor power,
which is surely a hereditary nobility. In the
Convito he speaks of nobility of soul, which can-
not be hereditary.
(6) Dante*s declaration that no one else had
treated of the subject of temporal Monarchy
simply means that no one whose work was
worthy his consideration had done so.
Scartazzini treats, secondly, of the theory that
the De Monarchia was written between 13 1 8 and
13 21, passing rapidly over the facts advanced in
its support. Of first importance are the words
found in so many of the manuscripts/ in the
discussion of free will, " Sicut in Paradiso Come-
diae iam dixi." Were these words genuine, and
not spurious as the best students of the texts
affirm, we could be certain that the fifth canto
of the Paradiso was composed before this prose
work. The interesting fact that Dante's theory
of the markings on the moon agrees with that of
the Paradiso^ and not with that of the Convito^
is no indication that the later opinion was arrived
at in the very last years of the author's life, but
merely that it was later than that of the Convito.
I. De Mori. i. 12. 3. 2. Par. 2. 58 ff.
3. Conv. 2. 14.
(
xlii INTRODUCTION
The last reason in favor of a very late composì-
tion is the similarity in diction and phrase with
Can Grande's letter and various parts of the
Paradiso, The similarity cannot be gainsaid, but
even so the De Monarchia bears yet stronger
likeness to the language of the letters To Henry
VII^ T'o the Florentines^ and T^o the Princes and
Peoples of Italy.
The third date suggested for thewriting of the
work under discussion is that of the coming
of Henry VII to Italy as Emperor. And there
is much in favor of this last belief. From the
purely polemical nature of the De Monarchia it
is apparent that it v^as brought into being by
some urgent and present motive. But even as
late as the Convito^ Dante v^rote hopelessly of
the condition of the Empire and those " who
sat in the saddle." He calls Frederick of Swabia
" the last Emperor of the Romans, last, I say,
as regards this present time, although Rudolph
and Adolphus and Albert were elected after
his death and from among his descendants." '
There was one time in Dante's life when a
motive urgent and present existed, one time
when he saw with perfect clearness that his
I. Conv. 4. 3. 3.
INTRODUCTION xlili
dream of Universal Empire was about to be
fulfilled, and in the intensity of bis belief he
spoke to the rulers of Italy words that glowed
with ardor and intense faith : " Behold, now is
the acceptable time in which the signs of conso-
lation and peace arise, for a new day grows
bright, revealing a dawn that lessens the gloom
of long calamity. . . . Henceforth let thy heart
be Joy fui, O Italy ! who deserveth to be pitied
even by the Saracens, but who straightway shalt
be looked on with envy throughout the world,
because thy bridegroom, the solace of the earth,
and the glory of thy people, the most clement
Henry, Divine, Augustus, and Caesar, hastens
to the nuptials." ' And this man whose way
Dante, like another John the Baptist, prepared
in Italy; whose feet he ran to kiss as a most
humble subject ; whose actions he forbore not
to rebuke or praise in words a father might
bave used, was Henry of Luxemburg, elected
after the death of Albert to the throne of the
Holy Roman Empire/
1. Letter ^. 2. 3.
2. Albert died,May i, 1308. Henry was elected No-
vember 27, 1308 ; entered Italy, October, 131 1 ; received
the iron crown of the Lombards at Milan on Epiphany,
xliv INTRODUCTION
As we have said, the three letters written by
Dante concerning this occasion are in theìr rea-
soning and phraseology remarkably like the De
Monarchia. Especially is that 'To the Princes and
Peoples of Italy like the second division of our
treatise. Space cannot be given bere for quot-
ing such parallel passages, but they are indicated
in due place in the notes to the translation.
We may add to this evidence drawn from
immediate purpose and similarity of language
Boccaccio's assertion to the efFect that Henry*s
election inspired Dante to attempt to bring from
its hiding-place the knowledge of temporal Mon-
archy, in order " to keep watch for the good of
the world." In summing up the testimony for
i the probable date of the De Monarchia^^^ would
\| say that the reasons for ascribing it to a time
previous to 1302 are about as slight as those
that place it at the end of the poet*s life. Be-
cause it is so distinctly a work of occasion, be-
cause Boccaccio has pointed out that occasion,
and no internai evidence can be found to dis-
prove bis statement, and, finally, because it is
so akin to the letters of the occasion named, we
131 1; Dante' s Iettar to him Aprii 16, 131 1; died at Buon-
convento, August 24, 13 13.
INTRODUCTION xlv
ascribe it to those years when Henry*s accession
to the Imperiai throne promised to bring man-
Icind to the cairn and tranquillity of universal
peace.
And may we strengthen this conclusion by the
witnessing of Dante's epitaph, which, though of
minor import, should not be omitted ? This
epitaph was long thought to be of Dante's com-
position, but now is believed to have been the
work of Bernardo Canaccio about 1353, and is
interesting at this juncture merely for the fact
that as first in the list of the poet's achieve-
ments is named "the rights of Monarchy."
JVRA MONARCHIA SVPEROS PHLEGETHONTA LACVSQVE
LV8TRANDO CECINI VOLVERVNT FATA QVOVSQVE
SED QVIA PARS CESSIT MELIORIBVS HOSPITA CASTRIS
AVCTOREMQVE SWM PETIIT FELICIOR ASTRIS
HIC CLAVDOR DANTES PATRII8 EXTORRIS AB ORIS
QVEM GENVIT PARVI FLORENTIA MATER AMORIS *
Does it seem pvohMetha.tìftht De Monarchia
were one of the first of Dante^s productions,
I. Lowell has translated this: —
The rights of Monarchy, the Heavcns, the Stream of Fire, the Pit,
In vision seen, I sang as far as to the fates seemed fìt ;
But since my soul, an alien here, hath down to nobler wan,
And, happier now, hath gone to seek its Maker 'mid the stara,
Here am I, Dante, shut, exiled from the ancestral shore,
Whom Florence, the of ali least-loving mother, bore.
xlvi INTRODUCTION
ranking with the Vita Nuova in its youthfulness,
it would have been coupled over his grave with
his supreme achievement?
When we realize that the bud of Dante's
hope was blighted, that his brave efForts depicted
in the De Monarchia and the letters of the same
period were utterly vain, we feel that a sorrow
not to be borne had come to him who had known
for so many years " how tastes of salt another's
breadj and how it is a hard path to go down and
up over another's stairs ; " we feel that a final
failure had crowned him whose life was out-
wardly ali defeat, and inwardly ali victory. Ex-
cept in earnestness of purpose and courageous-
ness of spirit. Henry in no particular fulfilled the
prophecies of Dante. " Tumults and revolts
broke out in Lombardy ; at Rome the King of
Naples held St. Peter's, and the coronation must
take place in St. John Lateran, on the southern
bank of the Tiber. The hostility of the Guelfic
league, headed by the Florentines, Guelfs even
against the Pope, obliged Henry to depart from
his impartial and republican policy, and to pur-
chase the aid of the Ghibelline chiefs by grant-
ing them the government of cities. With few
troops and encompassed by enemies, the heroic
INTRODUCTION xlvii
Emperor sustained an unequal struggle for a
yearlonger, tilJ, in A. d. 13 13, he sanie beneath
the fevers of the deadly Tuscan summer. His
German followers believed, nor has history wholly
rejected the tale, that poison was given him by
a Dominican monk in sacramentai wine. With
Henry the Seventh ends the history of the Em-
pire in Italy, and Dante's hook is an epitaph
instead of a prophecy." '
f Yet when it was ali over, with what splendid
courage and unfalterìng devotion Dante eulo-
gizes the man in whom had died ali promised
politicai unity, and the hope of peace for blood-
soaked Italy i::lXhe praise of the Emperor who
had failed is spoken by Beatrice in the Em-
pyrean heaven, where she and Dante, rising
into the yellow of the everlasting rose, behold
the host of those who sit in glory: "Look how
great is the assembly of the white garments. Be-
hold our city, how great is its circuit ; behold
there our stalls so full, that few folk hereafter
are awaited. In that great seat on which thou
hast thine eyes, by reason of the crown which
already is placed over it, ere thou shalt sup at
this wedding-feast, will sit the soul, which on
1. Brycc, chap. i 5.
xlviii INTRODUCTION
earth shall be Imperiai, of the high Henry who
will come to set Italy straight before that she
shall be ready." Dante believed with a more
modem poet that, after ali, ^flils not what man
does which exalts him, but what man would
We conclude this inadequate consideration
of the De Monarchia, its significance, content,
history, and probable date of composition, by
saying that if on perusal the subject of the De
Monarchia seem antiquated and of small im-
# port, if many arguments_ ^dduced are based on
unhisfnrir assnmptlous, if the style is marred
! by logicai devices and bare syllogìsms, "never-
j tEeless it will be fbund to contam ideals of life
1 J more perfect than man yet boasts of attaining
\ I except in dream s. Never has ideal civil polity
been imaged forth in more simplicity and beauty,
and never perhaps has one been more utterly
impracti cable. Yet in some of its principles, in
the necessary disinterestedness of the supreme
ruler in politicai matters, in the mutuai inde-
pendence of Church and State, in its strong
advocacy of peace, it has rightly been compared
to the United States under its President, and to
the Netherlands under a supreme Stadtholder.
INTRODUCTION xlix
To quote Mr. Dinsmore : ' " His essential aspi-
ration is that of many minds to-day, and we are
beginning to see its realization. The code of
international law is a source of universal order; _
the recent Peace Congress at the Hague, in ^^^^^^x/J^
establishing an international tribunal, took a '
long step toward extending the area of peace
for which the soul of Dante longed ; in Amer-
ica the Church is separated from the State, a
precedent which is exerting a wide influence in
Europe."
Besides, the De Monarchia is an indispensable
part of the work of a man whose whole life
was devoted to one end, and whose work was a
unified expression of his great, unified life. It
is a manifestation of that gift in Dante which
Mr. Bryce so praised in Hildebrand; that gift
whose manifestations the world cannot afford
to lose, wherever they come into being ; " that
rarest and grandest of gifts, an intellectual cour-
age and power of imagination in belief, which,
when it has convinced itself of aught, accepts
it fully with ali its consequences."
Without the De Monarchia the threefold
message of Dante would be incomplete ; without
I. The Teachings of Dante ^ P« 56.
W
1 INTRODUCTION
the De Monarchia it would be far less true that
for US as well as for Italy Dante is the thirteenth
century.
SOME OPINIONS OF THE DE MONARCHIA
Alien, Fragments of Latin Christianity : " The
fond dream of universal sovereignty, its allied
ideal Empire and Church, had its completed ex-
pression and defense in Dante's treatise on the
Divine Right of Monarchy."
Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, chap. 15:" The
career of Henry the Seventh in Italy is the most
remarkable illustration of the Emperor's posi-
tion : and imperialist doctrines are set forth most
strikingly in the treatise which the greatest spirit
of the age wrote to herald or commemorate
the advent of that hero, the De Monarchia of
Dante."
Church, Dante, p. 94 : " The idea of the De
Monarchia . . . holds a place in the great scheme
of the Commedia ; it is prominent there also —
an idea seen but in fantastic shape, encumbered
and confused with most grotesque imagery, but
the real idea of polity and law, which the expe-
rience of modem Europe has attained to."
INTRODUCTION li
Hallam, Middle Ages, chap. 8, part 2 : "Some
who were actively engaged in these transactions
took more extensive views, and assailed the
whole edifice of tempora! power whìch the Ro-
man see had been constructing for more than
two centuries. trSeveral men of learning, among
whom Dante, Ockham, and Marsilius of Padua
are the most conspicuous, investigated the foun-
dations of this superstructure, and exposed
their insufficiencjtl^
Milman, Latin Christianity ^ bk. 12, chap. 4:
" The ideal sovereign of Dante's famous treatise
on Monarchy was Henry of Luxemburg. Neì-
ther Dante nor his time can be understood but
through this treatise."
Lowell, Dante, Riverside Edition, Voi. 4.
p. 151 : " It is to be looked on as a purely
scholastic demonstration of a speculative thesis,
in which the manifold exceptions and modifica-
tions essential in practical application are neces-
sarily left aside."
BOOK I
WHETHER TEMPORAL MONARCHY IS NECES-
SARY FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE WORLD
>CK!
THE MONARCHY OF DANTE
ALIGHIERI
CHAPTER I
Introduction,
I. All men on whom the Higher Nature'
has stamped the love of truth should especially
concern themselves in laboring for posterity, in
order that future generations may be enriched
by their efForts, as they themselves were made
rich by the efforts of generations past. For that
man who is imbued with public teachings, but
cares not to contribute something to the public
good, is far in arrears of his duty, let him be as-
sured ; he is, indeed, not " a tree planted by the
rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in
I. God is " miglior natura * ' in Purg. i6. 79: **To a
greater power and a better nature, ye are free subjects."
Par. I o. 28 : ** The greatest mìnister of nature, that stamps
the world with the goodness of heaven.**
Par. 1 3. 79 : ** But if the burning love disposcs and stamps
the clear view of the prime virtue, all perfection is there ac-
quired.'*
Cf. S. T. i. 66. 3 ; De Trini t. 3. 4.
4 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
his season," "" but rather a destructive whirJpool,
always engulfing, and never giving back what
it has devoured. Often meditating with myself
upon these things, lest I should some day be
found guilty of the charge of the buried talent,^
I desire for the public weal, not only to burgeon,
but to bear fruit/ and to establish truths unat-
tempted by others. For he who should demon-
strate again a theorem of Euclid, who should
attempt after Aristotle to set forth anew the na-
ture of happiness, who should undertake after
Cicero to defend old age a second time — what
fruit would such a one yield ? None, forsooth ;
his tedious superfluousness would merely occa-
sion disgust.
2. Now, inasmuch as among other abstruse
and important truths, knowledge of temporal
Monarchy is most important and most obscure,
and inasmuch as the subject has been shunned
by ali because it has no direct relation to gain,
therefore my purpose is to bring it out from its
hiding-place, that I may both keep watch for the
good of the world, and be the first to win the
palm of so great a prize for my own glory.^
Verily, I undertake a difficult task and one be-
yond my powers, but my trust is not so much in
2. Ps. 1.3. 3. Matt. 25. 25.
4. Num. 17. 8. 5. I Cor. 9. 24; cf. Phil. 3. 14.
Ch. Il] DE MONARCHIA 5
my own worth as in the light of the Giver " that
giveth to ali men liberally, and upbraideth
not." ^
CHAPTER II
To what end does government exist among ali men ?
I. First, we must ascertain what tempora!
Monarchy is in its idea, as I may say, and in
its purpose. Tempora! Monarchy, cal!ed also
the Empire, we define as a single Principality
extending over a!! peoples in time, or in those
things and over those things which are mea-
sured by time.' Concerning it three main ques-
tions arise. First, we may ask and seek to
prove whether it is necessary for the well-being
of the wor!d ; secondly, whether the Roman
peop!e rightfully appropriated the office of Mon-
archy ; and thirdly, whether the authority of
6. James 1.5. In Conv. 1.8.2 God is called the ** Uni-
versa! Benefactor."
Conv. 3. 7. 2: " The Primal Goodness sendeth His boun-
ties unto ali things in an affluence.**
I. Conv. 4. 4. I : ** Wherefore, in order to put an end to
these wars and their causes, the whole earth should be under
a monarchy, that is, should be a single principality under one
prince, who, possessing everything, and therefore incapable of
fiirther desire, would keep the kings content within the limits
of theh- kingdoms, so that peace should abide among them."
6 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
Monarchy derives from God directly, or from
another, a minister or vicar of God.
2. But as every truth which is not a first
principle is manifested by the truth of some first
principle, it is necessary in every investigation
to know the first principle to which we may re-
turn, in analysìs, for the proof of ali propositions
which are subsequently assumed. And as the
present treatise is an investigation, we must
before ali else search out a basic principle, on
the validity of which will depend whatever fol-
lows.^ Be it known, therefore, that certain things
exist which are not at ali subject to our control,
and which we can merely speculate upon, but
cannot cause to be or to do : such are mathema-
tics, physìcs, and divinity. On the other hand,
certain things exist which are subject to our con-
trol, and which are matter not only for specu-
2. Each hook of the De Mon. is likewise founded on the
rock of a basic principle. See 2. 2; 3. 2.
Conv. 4. 15. 7: *'The third infirmity in the minds of
men is caused by levity of nature ; for many have so light a
fancy, that thcy fly from one thing to another in their- reason-
ing, and before they have finished their syllogism have formed
a conclusion, and from that conclusion have flown to another,
and think they are arguing most subtly, while they have no
principle to start from, and see nothing in their imaginarion
that is really there."
Par. 2. 124: *' Regard me well, how I am going through
this topic to the truth thou desirest.'*
Ch. n] DE MONARCHIA 7
lation, but for execution.^ In these things the
action is not performed for the sake of the spec-
ulation, but the latter for the sake of the former,
because in them action is the end. Since the
matter under consideration is governmental/
nay, is the very source and first principle of right
governments,and since eyeryth inggov e mmental
is subject_to our control, it is clear that oùrpre"-
sent theme is primarily adapted for action rather
than for speculation. Again, since the first prin-
ciple and cause oT^all actions is their ultimate
end,5 and since the ultimate end first puts the
agent in motion, it follows that the entire pro-
3. Conv. 4. 9. 2: ** There are things which it [the reason]
only considers and does not originate, . . . such as naturai and
superaatural things, i. e. laws and mathematics ; and actions
which it considers and performs by its own proper act, which
are called rational, such as the arts of speech ; and actions
which it considers and executes in material outside of itself,
as in the mechanical arts.**
4. ** The word politia may be used either for a general
form of government, such as monarchy or democracy ; or for
a concrete organ of government, such as some specific mon-
archy ; or for some fùnction of government as exercised by
such an organ, i. e. the actual governing done by the monarch ;
or for the ideal goal and purpose of government, i. e. the
right ordering of a state.** Wicksteed. It has seemcd best to
translate this oft-recurring word in its various forms by "gov-
ernment,** ** governmental," etc.
5. The identiiìcation of cause and end, or cfFect, is com-
8 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
cedure of the means toward an end must derive
from the end itself. For the manner of cutting
wood to build a house will be other than that
of cutting wood to build a ship. So if there
exists an end for universal government among
men, that end will be the basic principle through
which ali things to be proved hereafter may be
demonstrated satisfactorily. But to believe that
there is an end for this government and for
that government, and that there is no single end
common to ali, would indeed be irrational.
CHAPTER III
To actualize the whole capa city of the possible intellect in
speculation and action.
I. We must now determine what is the end
of human society as a whole, and having deter-
mined that, we shall have accomplished more
than half of our labor, according to the Philo-
sopher in his writings to Nicomachus^ In order
plete in Le t ter ii. 33: *' When the Source or First, which is
God, hath been found, there is nothing to be sought beyond
(since He is the Alpha and Omega, which is the Beginning
and the End)." See note i. De Mon. i. 13. For this no-
tion of cause and efFect see also Arist. Metaphys. i, and De
Causis.
I. Eth. I. 7. 21: "For the principle seems to be more
Ch. Ili] DE MONARCHIA 9
to discern the point in question more clearly,
observe that as Nature fashions the thumb for
one purpose, the whole hand for another, then
the arm for a purpose differing from both, and
the entire man for one differing from ali, so she
creates for one end the individuai, for another
the family, for another the village, for stili an-
other end the city, for another the kingdom,
and finally for an ultimate end, by means of His
art which is Nature, the Eternai God brings into
being the human race in its totality. And this
last is what we are in search of as the directive
first principle of our investigation.
2. In beginning, then, let it be recognized
that God and Nature make ^ nothing in vain ;
than half the whole." Dante almost without exception refers
to Aristotle as **the Philosopher. ' * In Cofiv. 3. 5. 5 he is
*< That glorious Philosopher to whom Nature has most com-
pletely revealed her secrets ; ** ** The master of human rea-
son," Conv. \» 2.7; ** That master ofphilosophers/* Conv.
4. 8. 5; "The master of those who know," Ifif. 4. 131.
For Dante* s relation to Aristotle see Moore, Studies in Dante,
Voi. I. pp. 92-156. For the translations of Aristotle which
heused, /. e. pp. 305-318. Throughout the De Mon. the
Et/iùsATC called ** the writings to Nicomachus," a title given
them becausc they had been addressed by the philosopher to
his son of that name.
2. De Cae/o i. 4. Dante uses a singular verb with two
coordinate subjects, thus, "Deus et natura facit.*' So infra,
I. 1 1. I.
IO DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
but that whatever comes into being comes with
a definite function. For, according to the inten-
tion of the creator, as creator, the ultimate end
of a created being is not the being itself but its
proper function.^ Wherefore a proper function
exists not for the sake of the being, but contra-
riwise.|frhere_isjjh£ivsoine distiiict functionfor
which humanity -.as-a^jdiole is-£ìrdained, a func-
tion which neither an individuai nor a house-
hold, neither a village, nor a city, nor a particu-
lar kingdom, has power to perform/ What this
3. Conv, 3. 15. 4: *' Nature would ha ve made it in vain,
because it would have been created without any end.*'
Par. 8. 97: '* The Good which sets in revolution and
contents ali the realm thou art scaling makes its foresight to
be virtue in these great bodies. And not only the natures
are foreseen in this mind which is of itself perfect, but they
together with their preservation. Wherefore whatsoever this
bow'^ discharges falls disposed to a foreseen end, just as a thing
aimed right upon its mark. If this were not so, the heaven
where thou journeyest would so produce its efFects that they
would not be an artist's works, but ruins. And this cannot
be, if the intellects which move these stars are not maimed
and maimed the First, in that He has not perfected them. . . .
I see it is impossible for nature, in that which is necessary,
to fall."
Cf. De Mon. 2. 7. i; 3. 15. i; i. io. i.
4. Poi. I. 2. 5-8.
Conv. 4. 4. I : ** The radicai foundatìon of imperiai ma-
jesty according to the truth is the necessity of human society,
which is ordained to one end, that is a happy life; to which
Ch. Ili] DE MONARCHIA ii
functìon is will be evident if we point out the
distinctive capacity of humanity as a whole. I
say, therefore, that no faculty shared by many
things diverse in species is the differentiating
characteristic of any one of them. For since
the differentiating characteristic determines spe-
cies, it would follow that one essence would be
specific to many species, which is impossible.
So the differentiating characteristic in man is
not simple existence, for that is shared by the
elements ; ^ nor existence in combination, for
that is met with in minerals ; ^ nor existence ani-
mate, for that is found in plants;^ nor existence
intelligent, for that is participated in by the
brutes ; ^ but the characteristic competent to
no one is capable of attaining without the aid of others, be-
cause man has many needs, which one person alone is unable
to satisfy.'*
5. Conv. 3. 3. I : " Simple bodies, the elements, have
a naturai love for their own place; wherefore earth always falls
toward the centre, and fire is drawn toward the circumfer-
cnce above.**
6. Conv. 3. 3. 2 : **The primary composed bodies, such
as minerals." Cf. Par. 7. 124: ** I see the air, and I see
the fire, the earth, and the water and ali their combinations
come to destruction and endure but a little.*'
7. Conv. 3. 3. 3: ** Plants, which are the first of ani-
mate things."
8. Conv. 3. 2. 3: **The sensitive soul is found with-
out the rational, as in beasts and birds and fishes."
12 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
man alone, and to none other above or below
him, is existence intelligent through the possi-
ble intellect.9 Although other beings possess
intellect, it is not intellect distinguished by
potentiaHty, as is man's. Such beings are intel-
ligent species in a limited sense, and their exist-
ence is no other than the uninterrupted act of
understanding ; '° they would otherwise not be
9. For the origin of the idea see De Anima 3; Metaphys.
12; Ethics I. 7. 12: ** The work of man is an energy of
soul according to reason. Man's chief good is an energy of
soul according to virtue. " For the mediaeval explanation, S. T.
I. 154. 4, and I. 79. I, 2, IO.
* * Intellectus possibilis'* or "passibilis," and "intellectus
agens," that is, the passive, apprehending intellect, and the
active intelligence, are the two intellects of man. Cf. De Mon.
I. 16. The emphasis here is on the fact that at no given
tìme is the potentiality of man's intellect realized.
10. Dante discusses the hierarchies, Conv. 2. 5, 6, and
Par. 28, 29. Cf. S. T. i. 54-59. Conv. 2. 5. i: '«These
are substances separate from matter, that is intelligences, whom
the common people cali angels;'* /. e. 2. 5. 3: ** Their in-
tellect is one and perpetuai;" 4. 19. 2: ** Human nobility,
as far as the variety of its fruits is considered, excels that of the
angels, although the angelic may be more divine in its unity."
That is, v^hile the angelic nature is an uninterrupted realization
of the know^ledge of v^^hich each order of these beings is capa-
ble, man alw^ays approximates through a variety of ways to
the knowledge that is his heritage.
Par. 29. 70: *« But w^hereas on earth through your schoois
it is taught that the angelic nature is such as understands and
Ch. Ili] DE MONARCHIA 13
eternai. It is evident, therefore, thatjthe difFer-
entiating characteristic of humanity is a dis-
tinctive capacity or power of intellect.
3. And since thls capacity às^à~wliole cannot
be reduced te action at one ti me through one
man, or through any one of the societies dis-
criminated above, multiplicity is necessary in
the human race in order to actualize its capa-
city in entirety. Likewise multiplicity is neces-
sary in creatable things in order to exercise con-
tinually the capacity of primal matter. Were
it not so, we should be granting the existence
of unactualized potentiality, which is impossi-
ble. With this belief Averroès " accords in bis
commentary on the treatise concerning the SouL'^
Further, the intellectual capacity of which I
speak has reference not only to universal forms
or species, but, by a sort of extension, to par-
ticular ones. Wherefore it is a common saying
that the specul ative intellect becomes by exten-
remcmbers and wills, ... the tnith is there below confuseci.**
Dante* s actus or f or mus is typifìed in angelic natures, his ma-
teria or potentia in matter, while both form and matter are
found in created things.
1 1 . Averroès was an Arabian philosopher of the twelfth
century, and author of the famous commentary upon Aristotle
here alluded to. He is mentioned in Conv. 4. 13. 3, and
placed among the great thinkers in Limbo, Inf. 4. 144.
12. ««Ad libr. tertium Ed. Venet. 1552, p. 164.** Witte.
14 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
Sion the practical, whose end is to do^and to
make. Jt speak of things to be don e, which are
controlied by politicai sagacity, and things to
be made, which are controlied by art/^ because
they are ali handmaids of speculation, that su-
preme end for which the Frimai Good brought
into being the human race.'^ From this now
13. Metaphys. i . i : ** An art comes into being when, out
of many conceptions of experience, one universa! opinion is
evolved with respect to similar cases."
14. Conv. 3. 15. 2: ** In this gaza or contemplation
alone is human perfection to be gained, that is, the^^effeedon
x)£the xeason, on which, as on its most important part, ali our
being depends; and ali our other actions, feelings, nourishment
— ali exist for it alone, and it exists for itself and not for oth-
ers." Z. f. 4. 4. I : " Peace should abide among them, . . .
which done, man lives happily, for which end he was bo m."
Z. r. 4. 17. 16: *' We mustlcnow that we can have two kinds
of happiness in this life, according to two different ways, one
good, one best, which lead us thereto; one is the active life,
and the other the contemplative." Z. r. 4; 22. 5-10: ** The
use of the mind is doublé, that is, practical and speculative, and
both are delightful; although that of contemplation is most
so. . . . Its practical use is to act through us virtuously, that is,
righteously by temperance, fortitude, and justice; the specula-
tive is not to operate actively in us, but to consider the works
of God and of nature; and the one and the other make up our
beatitude and supreme happiness.'*
Purg. 27. 93, Dante dreams of Leah and Rachael, who
typify the contemplative and active life ; <* to see satisfies her,
but me to work."
Purg. 28 realizes the dream of the active life in the person
Ch. IV] DE MONARCHIA 15
the i
her J
grows clear the saying in the Politics that
vigorous in intellect naturally govern other
men." '^
CHAPTER IV
To attain this end humanity requires universal peace,
I. It has now been satisfactorily explained
that the p roper function of jthc._hi;iman mre,
taken in tné aggregate, i s to actualize contin uai ly
the entire capacity of the possible intellect, prt \ *^^
marily in speculation, then, through its extension
and for its sake, secòndarily" in action. And
since it is true that whatever modifies a part
modifies the whole, and that the individuai man
seated ' in quiet grows perfect in knowledge and
of Matilda, and Purg. 30 that of the contemplative in the
person of Beatrice. It is for abandoning the contemplative life,
and ** following false images of good,** that Beatrice reproves
Dante, Purg. 30. 131.
1 5. Poi. I. 2. 2: " By nature toc some beings command,
and others obey, for the sake of mutuai safety; for a being
endowed with discernment and forethought is by nature the
superior and governor."
I . ** Sedendo et quiescendo.'* Dante often used the figure
of the seated person to portray the life of contemplation.
S. T. 2-2. 182. 2 : ** Contemplative life consists in a cer-
tain stillness and rest according to the text, ' Be stili, and know
that I am God,' '* Ps. 46. io. Also S, T. 1-2. 3. 4, 5.
Conv. 4. 17. 16: **And Mary . . . sitting at the fcet
i6 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
wisdom/ it i splain thatamjH rhp ralm an £[2l^-
quillity of peace the human race accomplishes
mpst freely and easiiy its given work. How
nearly divine this function is revealed in the
words, " Thou hast made him a little lower than
the angels." ^ Whence it is manifest that uni-
versal peace is the best of those things which
are ordained for our beatitude. And hence to
the shepherds sounded from on high the mes-
sage not of riches, nor pleasures, nor honors,
nor length of life, nor health, nor beauty ; but
the message of peace. For the heavenly host
said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace among men in whom he is well pleased." ^
Likewise, " Peace be unto you " ^ was the salu-
tation of the Saviour of men. It befitted the
of Christ, took no heed to the service of the house. . . .
For if we explain this morally, our Lord wished thereby to
show US that the contemplative life is the best, although the
active life is good." L. e. i. i. 4: " Blessed are the few
that are seated at the table where the bread of the angels is
eaten."
Purg. 27. 105: «' My sister Rachel never is drawn from
her mirror, and sits ali day.'*
2. Eccles. 38. 25 (Vulg.): "The wisdom of a learned
man cometh by opportunity of leisure; and he that hath little
business shall become wise."
3. Ps. 8. 6; cf. Heb. 2. 7. Quoted Conv. 4. 19. 3.
4. Luke 2. 14.
5. Luke 24. 36; John 20. 21, 26.
Ch. IV] DE MONARCHIA 17
supreme Saviour to utter the supreme salutatìon.
It is evìdent to ali that the discìples desired to
preserve this custom ; and Paul likewise in his
words of greeting.^
2. From these things which have been ex-
pounded we perceive through what better, nay,
through what best means the human race may
fulfìll its proper office. Consequently we per-
ceive the nearest way ttTrough which m ay be
reached tTìat universa] "peace towardf which ali
Gur efforts are directed as their ultimate end,
and which is to be assumed as the basic prin-
ciple of subsequent reasoning. This principle
was necessary, we have said, as a predetermined
formula, into which, as into a most manifest
truth, must be resolved ali things needing to
be proved/
6. Rom. I. 7.
7. Some of Dante' 8 most eloquent exhortations in prose
and some of the most perfect music of his verse are touching
that peace w^hich he knew should make man happy on earth and
blessed in heaven, that peace which he went to seek ** from
world to world,'* and which he found at last in complete obe-
dience to the will of God.
Purg. 3. 74: Virgil conjures the spirits <* By that peace
which I think is awaited by you ali.**
Purg. 5. 61: Dante here tells of ** that peace, which
makes me, following the feet of a guide thus fashioned, seek it
from world to \v^orld.**
Purg, IO. 34: *<Thc angel that carne on earth with the
i8 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bic. i
CHAPTER V
JVhen several things are ordained for one end^ one must
rule and the others obey,
I. Resuming whatwas said in the beginning,
I repeat, there are three main questions asked
and debated in regard to tempora! Monarchy,
decree of the many years wept-for peace . . . opened Heaven
from its long interdict. ' *
Purg. II. 7 : ** Let the peace of thy kìngdom come to us."
Purg. 21. 13: ** My brethren, God give you peace/* is
the greeting of Statius.
Purg. 28. 91: **The highest Good, which does .only its
own pleasure, made the man good and for good, and gave him
this place for an earnest to him of eternai peace. ' '
Purg. 30. 7: '*That truthful folk . . . turned them to the
car as to their peace.'*
Par. 2. 112: " Within the heaven of the. divine peace
revolves a body in whose virtue lies the being of ali that is
contained in it.'*
Par. 3. 85: '* In His will is our peace.*'
Par. 27. 8: ** A life complete of Joy and peace."
Par. 30. 100: ** Light is there on high, w^hich makes visi-
ble the Creator to that creation w^hich only in seeing Him has
its peace."
Par. 31. no: St. Bernard *'in this world by contempla-
tion tasted of that peace."
Par. 33. I : * * Virgin Mother ... in thy womb was re-
kindled the Love, through whose warmth in the eternai peace
this flower has thus sprung."
Ch. v] DE MONARCHIA 19
which is more commonly termed the Empire,
and it is my purpose to make inquiry concern-
ing these in the order cited, according to the
principle now enunciated. And so let the first
question be w hethe r temporal Monarchy is
necessary for the well-being~ót' the world. 1 he
necessity ortemporal^Tonarchy caiTHe gainsaid
with no force of reason or authority, and can
be proved by the most powerful and patent ar-
guments, of which the first is taken on the testi-
mony of the Philosopher in the Politics. There
this venerable authority asserts that when sev-ij
crai things are ordained for one end^one of theml
must regulate ojLmle, and the others submit tol\
regulation or rule." This, indeed, not only be- il
cause of the author's glorious name, but because '
of inductive reasoning, demands credence.'
2. If we consider the individuai man, we
shall see that this applies to him, for, when ali
1 . Poi. 1 . 5. 3 : " Whatsoever is composed of many parts,
which together make up one whole, . . . shows the marks of
some one thing governing and another thing goveraed."
Conv. 4. 4. 2: ** And with these reasons we may com-
pare the words of the Philosopher, when he says in the Politics
that when many things are ordained for one purpose, one of
them should be govemor or ruler, and ali others should bc
govemed or ruled/ *
2. For Dante* s idea of the deference due to authority, phi-
losophical and imperiai, see Conv. 4. 8. 9.
20 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
hìs faculties are ordered for his happiness, the
intellectual faculty itself is regulator and ruler
of ali others ; in no way else can man attain to
happiness. If we consider the household, whose
end is to teach its members to live rightly, there
is" need for one c^Weà the pafer-familiaSj, or for
some one holding his place, to direct and _^ov-
ern, according to the Philosopher when he says,
" Every household is ruled by its eldest." ^ It is
for him, as Homer says, to guide and make laws
for those dwelling with him. From this arises
the proverbiai curse, "May you bave an-equal
in your house." "* If we consider the village,
whose aim is adequate protection of persons and
property, there is again needed for governing
the rest either one chosen for them by another,
or one risen to prèeminence from among them-
selves by their consent ; otherwise, they not
only obtain no mutuai support, but sometimes
the whole community is destroyed by many
striving for first place. Again, if we consider
the city, whose end is to insure comfort and
sufficiency in life, there is need for undivided
rule in rightly directed governments, and in
those wrongly directed ^ as well ; else the end
3. Po/. I. 2. 6.
4. Homer, O^. 9. 114, quotedby Arist. Po/, i. 2. 6.
5. ** Politia obliqua.'*
Ch. v] DE MONARCHIA 21
of civil life is missed, and the city ceases to be
what it was. Finally, if we consider the individ-
uai kingdom, whose end is that of the city with
greater promise of tranquillity, there must be.
one king to direct and govern. If not, not only
the inhabitants oftbe kihgdóm fai! of their end,
but the kingdom lapses into ruin, in agreement
with that word of infallible truth, " Every king-
dom divided against itself is brought to desola-
tion."^ If, then, this is true of these instances,
and of ali things ordained for a single end,^ it is
true of the statement assumed above.
3. We are now agreed that the whole human
race is ordered for one end, as already shown.
It is meet, therefore, that the leader and lord be
one, and that he becalled Monarch, or Emperor.
Thus it becomes obvious that for the well-being
of the world there is needed a Monarchy, or
Empire.
6. Luke II. 17.
7. Conv. 4. 4. 2: ** Even as we see a shìp, where her
divers duties and their divers purposes are ordained for one
end, that is, to bring her by a safe course to the desired haven,
where, as each officer performs his own duty with regard to
the proper end, so there is one person who considers ali these,
and adapts them ali to the final end, and this one is the pilot
whose voice ali must obey. And this we see in religious bodies,
and in armies, and in ali things, which, as we have said, afe
ordained for some one purpose.**
22 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
CHAPTER VI
The order whìch is found in the parts of the human race
should he found in the race as a whole,
I. As the part is related to the whole/ so is
the partial order related to the total order. The
relation of the part to the whole is as to its end
and supreme good, and so the relation of the
partial order to the total order is as to its end
and supreme good/ We see from this that the
excellence of partial order does not exceed the
1. Conv. 4. 29. 5: *' Every whole is made up of its parts,
. . . and what is said of a part, in the same way may be said
of a whole.'*
2. Par, I. 103: **A11 things whatsoever have an order
amgng thero.selyes; and this is form, wTiTclì ìfiakes the uiìrvèrse
in the likeness of God. „ Here the created beings on high see
the traces of eternai goodness, which is the end whereunto the
rule aforesaid has been made.*'
Par. IO. 3: ** The first and unspeakable Goodness made
ali that revolves in mind or in place with such order that he
who observes this cannot be without tasting of Him."
Par. 29. 31 : *« Order and structure were concrete in the
substances."
Cf. De Mon. 2. 7. i, and note 3.
S. T. I. 47. 3: **Ipse ordo in rebus sic a Deo creatis
existens unitatem mundi manifestat. Mundus enim iste unus
dicitur unitate ordinis, secundum quod quaedam ad alia ordi-
nantur. Quaecumque autem sunt a Deo, ordinem habent ad
invicem et ad ipsum Deum."
Ch. V,] DE MONARCHIA 23
excellence of total order, but rather the con-
verse. A du a l order is therefore discernible ia
the world, namely, the order of parts among
themselves, and the order of parts with re-
ference to a third entity which is not a part.
For example, in the army there is an order
among its divisions, and an order of the whole
with reference to the general. The order of the
parts with reference to the third entity is supe-
rior, for partial order has its end in total order,
and exists for the latter*s sake. Wherefore, if
the form of the order is discernible in the parts
of the human aggregate, it should, by virtue of
the previous syllogism, be much more discerni-
ble in the aggregate or totality, because total
order or form of order is superior. Now, as is
sufficiently manifest from what was said in the
preceding chapter, it is discernible in ali the
units of the human race, and therefore must be
or ought to be discernible in the totality itself
And so ali parts which we have designated
as included in kingdoms, and kingdoms them-
selves, should be ordered with reference to one
Prince or Principality, that is, to one Monarch
or Monarchy.^
3. Conv. 4. 4. I : ** The whole earth should be under one
prince, who . . . would keep the Idngs content within the lim-
its of their kingdoms, so that peace should abide among them.
24 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
CHAPTER VII
The relation of kìngdoms and natìons to the monarch
should he that of humanity to God.
I. Further, mankind is a whole with relation
to certain parts, and is a part with relation to
a certain whole. It is a whole, of course, with
relation to particular kingdoms and nations, as
was shown above, and it is a part with relation
to the whole universe, as is self-evident. There-
fore, in the manner in which the constituent parts
of collective humanity correspond to human-
ity as a whole, so, we say, collective humanity
corresponds as a part to its larger whole. That
the constituent parts of collective humanity cor-
respond to humanity as a whole through the one
only principle of submission to a single Prince,
wherein the cities should repose, and in this repose the neigh-
bors should love one another, and in this love the families
should supply ali their w^ants; which done, man lives happily;
for which end he was born/'
Conv. 4. 4. 2: " And this office, for reasonof its excellence,
is called Empire, without any qualification, because it is the
government of ali governments. And so he who holds the
office is called emperor, because he is a law to ali and must be
obeyed by ali, and ali others take their force and authority
from him. And thus it is evident that the imperiai majesty and
authority is the highest in human society."
/"
Ch. vili] DE MONARCHIA 25
can be easily gathered from what has gone be-
fore. And therefore humanity corresponds to
the universe itself, or to its Prince, who is God
and Monarch,' simply through one only prin-
ciple, namely, the submission to a single Prince.
We conclude from this that Monarchy is neces-
sary to the world for its well-being.
CHAPTER Vili
Men are mode in the image of God; but God is one,
I. And everything is well, nay, best disposed
which acts in accordance with the intention of
the first agent, who is God. This is self-evident,
save to such as deny that divine goodness at-
tains the summit of perfection. It is of the in—]
tention of God that ali things should represent
the divine likeness in so far as their peculiar
nature is able to receive it.' For this reason it
I . Dante applies to the Deity the names denoting govern-
mental supremacy, not only in the De Mon, but elsewhere.
See Conv. 2. 6. i; 2. 16. 6; ** Imperadore dell* universo;'*
also Emperor, Inf. i. 124; Par. 12. 40, etc; De Mon,
3. 16. I.
1. Conv. 3. 14. i: "Thesun . . . sending his rays herc
below, Hìakes ali things to resemble his own brightness, as far as
they, of their own nature, are capable of receiving light. Thus
26 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
was said, " Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness."^ Although "in our image" cannot
be said of things inferior to man, nevertheless,
" after our likeness " can be said of ali things, for
the entire universe is nought else than a foot-
print of divine goodness. The human race,
therefore, is ordered well, nay, is ordered for the
best, when according to the utmost of its power
it becomes like unto God.^ But the human race
is most like unto God when it is most one, for
the principle of unity dwells in Him alone.
Wherefore it is written, " Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God is one Lord." ^
1. But the human race is most one when ali
are united together, a state which is manifestly
impossible unless humanity as a whole becomes
subject to one Prince, and consequently comes
. . . God brings thìs love to Hìs own likeness, in so far as it
is possible for it to resemble Him."
Par. I. 104: **Form . . . makes the universe in the like-
ness of God." Cf. De Mon. 2. 2. 2, and note 3.
2. Gen. I. 26. Used in Conv. 4. 12. 6: '* God is the
source of our soul and has made it like unto Himself (as it is
vi^ritten, ' Let us make man in our image and likeness ')."
3. Eth. IO. 8. 13: **The energy of the deity, as it sur-
passes ali others in blessedness, must be contemplative: and
therefore, of human energies, that which is nearest allied to
this must be the happiest."
4. Deut. 6. 4.
Ch. IX] DE MONARCHIA 27
most into accordance with that divine intention
Iwhich we showed at the beginning of this chap-
ter is the good, nay, is the best disposition of
mankind.
CHAPTER IX
Men^ as the sons of Heaven^ should follow in the foot-
prints of Heaven,
I. Likewise, every son acts well and for the
best when, as far as his individuai nature per-
mits, he follows in the footprints of a perfect
father.' As " Man and the sun generate man," '
according to the second book oi Naturai Le arn-
ingy the human race is the son of heaven, which
is absolutely perfect in ali its works. There-
fore mankind acts for the best when it follows
in the footprints of heaven, as far as its distinc-
tive nature permits. Now, human reason appre-
hends most clearly through philosophy ^ that
1 . Conv. 4. 24. 8 : " Ali children look more closcly to the
paterna! footprints than any others.*'
2. Phys. 2. 2: "Homo hominem generat ex materia et
sol/* Witte quotes from an old Latin version. Dante quotes
three times in De Mon. from De Naturali Juditu, as he calls
the Physics of Aristotle. Cf. infra, z. 7. 3; 3. 15. 2.
3. Inf. II. 97: <* Philosophy . .. . to whoso iooks nar-
rowly on her, notes, not in one place only, how nature takes
28 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
the entire heaven in ali its parts, its movements,
and its motors, is controlied by a single motion,
the primum mobile ^^ and by a single mover, God ;
her course from the understanding of God, and from His
workmanship ; and if thou well observe thy PhysicSy thou wilt
find after not many pages, that your workmanship, as far as it
can, foUows her as the leamer does the master, so that your
workmanship is as it were second in descent from God.'*
4. The *'primum mobile" is the ninth heaven, and the
source of motion in the other eight movable heavens. The
heavens are treated of in Conv. 2. 3-6; the **primum mo-
bile" in 2. 4. i: "The fervent longing of ali its parts to be
united to those of this tenth and most divine heaven, makes
it revolve with so much desire that its velocity is almost
incomprehensible." Dante's theory of motion is to some
extent explained in Letter 11. 26: ** Everything that moveth
hath some defect, and hath not its whole being complete in
itself."
Conv. 2. 15. 5: **The said heaven directs by its move-
ments the daily revolution of ali the others, by which they ali
daily receive and transmit here below the virtue of ali their
parts."
Par, 27. 106: ** The nature of the world that holds the
centre quiet, and moves ali else around, begins hence as from
its starting-point. And this heaven has no other Where than
in the mind of God, in which is kindled the love that turns it
and the virtue that it showers down. Light and love compre-
hend it with one circle, as it does the rest; and of that girth
He only who girt it is the intelligence. Its movement is not
marked\9ut by any other, the others are measured by it." Cf.
Par. I. 76, where God is called **Love who orderest the
heavens," and De Mon. 2. 2. 3 note.
Ch. x] de monarchia 29
then, if our syllogism is correct, the human
race is best ordered when in ali its movements
and motors it is controlied by one Prince as
by one mover, by one law as by one motion.
On this account it is manifestly essential for the
well-being of the world that there should exist a
Monarchy or unifìed Principality, which men
cali the Empire. This truth Boethius sighed for
in the words, " O race of men how blessed, did
the love which rules the heavens rule likewise
your minds !"5
CHAPTER X
In order to settle ali disputes a supreme judge is
necessary.
I. Wherever strife is a possibility, in that
place must be judgment ; otherwise imperfection
would exist without its perfecting agent.' This
could not be, for God and Nature are not want-
ing in necessary things.' It is self-evident that
Par. 28. 70: ** The one which sweeps along with it the
universe sublime."
5. De Cons. Philos. 2. Metr. 8. 11. 28-30. Seepp. 282-
288 of Moore's Studies, Voi. i, for an account of Dante's
relation to Boethius, one of his ** favorite authors.**
1. '* Sine proprio perfectivo. * *
2. De Anima 3. 9. This idea Dante often rcpeats. See
infra, 2. 7. 2, and 3. 15. i.
30 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
between any two princes, neither of whom owes
allegiance to the other, controversy may arise
either by their own fault or by the fault of
their subjects. For such, judgment is necessary.
And inasmuch as one owing no allegiance to the
other can recognize no authority in him (for an
equal cannot control an equal), there must be a
third prince with more ampie jurisdiction, who
may govern both within the circle of his right.
This prince will be or will not be a Monarch.
If he is, our purpose is fulfilled ; if not, he will
again have a coequal beyond the circle of his
jurisdiction, and again a third prince will be
required» And thus either the process will be
carried to infinity, which is impossible, or that
primal and highest judge will be reached, by
whose judgments ali disputes are settled medi-
ately or immediately. And this judge will be
Monarch, or Emperor. Monarchy is therefore
indispensable to the world, and this truth the
Philosopher saw when he said, " Things have no
desire to be wrongly ordered ; inasmuch as a
multitude of Princedoms is wrong, let there be
one Prince."^
3. Metaphys. 11. io, at the end. Moore points out the
originai source as Homer, //. 2. 204.
Par. 20. 76: **Such seemed to me the image of the
imprint of the eternai pleasure, according to its desire for
which each thing becomes what sort it is."
Ch. XI] DE MONARCHIA 31
CHAPTER XI
The world is best ordered when in it Justice is '
preéminent,
I . Further, the world is disposed for the best
when Justice reigns therein ; wherefore, desiring
to glorify that age which seemed to be dawn-
ing in his own day, Virgil sang in his BucolicSy
" Now doth the Virgin return and the kingdoms
of Saturn.** ' For they called Justice the Virgin,
and called her also Astraea. The kingdoms of
Saturn meant those happiest times which men
named the Age of Gold. Justice is preèminent
only under a Monarch ; therefore, that the world
may be disposed for the best, there is needed a
Monarchy, or Empire.
1. To make the assumption plain, it must be
understood that Justice, considered in itself andi
in its distinctive nature, is a certair»- directness orj
rule of action avoiding the oblique on either side,
and refusing the comparison of more or less in
degree, as whiteness considered in the abstract.*
1. Ed. 4. 6. Statius in his eulogy of Virgil, Purg. 22. 70,
paraphrases this passage of the Fourth Eclogue : ** The world
renews itself; Justice returns, and the first age of man; and
a nevv progeny descends from Heaven.*' Use is made of the
same in Letter 7. i .
2. One of the books of the Convito ^ which was never writ-
32 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. ,
Certain forms ^ of this kind, though present
in compounds, consist in themselves of simple
ten, was to have been devoted to this ** moral virtue.'* Conv.
I. 12. 4: ** Of this subject I shall treat flilly in the four-
teenth hook." So Dante affirms again, /. r. 4. 27. 5: **Jus-
tice will be treated of in the last book but one of this volume.'*
The word "justitia," used in the De Mon. according to the
definition here of *'regula sive rectitudo/' is employed else-
where by Dante with varying meanings, ranging even to a
synonym of perfect goodness and God Himself.
Conv. 4. 17. 13: **The eleventh [moral virtue] is Jus-
tice, which disposes us to love and practice righteousness in ali
things.'*
Inf. 29. 56: "Justice that cannot err " punishes those in
hell. In Purg. 19. ']'] the sufferings endured **both hope
and justice make less hard.*' Again in Purg. 16. 71, it is
** Justice to have for good joy, and for evil woe.'*
Par. 4. 6']'. " That our justice should appear unjust in the
eyes of mortals is argument of faith and pertains not to heretic
depravity."
Par. 6. 103: "Let the Ghibellines . . . work their arts
under another ensign, for he ever follow^s that amiss who
separates justice and it. ' * L. e. 121: ** The lìving justice makes
our affection sweet w^ithin us, so that it can ne ver be wrested
to any unrighteousness.'*
Par. 18. 115: ** O sweet star, w^hat manner and what
number of what gems showed me that our justice is an efFect
of the heaven wherein thou art set. ' * In this same canto Dante
sees the motto of the empire, 90 iF., ** Diligite justitiam . . .
qui judicatis terram,'* in the words which open the Book of
Wisdom. For Thomas Aquinas on Justice, see S. T. 2-2.
57. I, 58. I.
3 . Forms may be substantial or accidental; substantial, when
Ch. XI] DE MONARCHIA 23
and invariable essence, as the Master of the
Six Prìnciples * rightly claims ; yet such quali-
ties admit the comparison of more or less in
degree as regards the subjects ' in which they
are mingled, when more or less of the quali-
ties* opposìtes are mixed therein. Therefore,
when with Justice is intermixed a minimum
of its opposite, both as to disposition and op-
eration, there Justice reigns» Truly, then may
be applied to her the words of the Philoso-
pher:" Neither Hesperus, the star of evening,
nor Lucifer, the star of morning, is so won-
derfully fair." ^ Then, indeed, she is like to
Phoebe beholding her brother across the circle
thcy give things being or essence; accidcntal, when they give
things qualities or attributes. Whiteness is an accidental forni
which is intrinsically absolute. More or less whiteness is only
possiblc when some other accidental form is mixed with it.
Cf. infra f par. 3.
4. Gilbertus Porretanus was a scholastic logician, a theo-
logian, and Bishop of Poitiers, a pupil of Bernard of Chartres
and of Anselm of Laon. His chief logicai work was De Sex
PrincipiiSf and it gave him the name by which Dante desig-
nates him. A criticism of the ten Aristotelian Categories, it
drew a distinction between the first four (formae inhaerentes),
substance, quality, quantity, and relation, and the other six
(formae assistentes), and it became one of the most popular
Works in the schools.
5. Dante uses *♦ subject** to mean either an entity or an
underlying element.
6. Etb. 5. I. 12.
34 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
of the heavens, from the purple of morn's se-
rene/
3. Man's disposition to Justice may meet
opposition in the will ; ^ for when will is not
wholly unstained by cupidity, even if Justice be
present, she may not appear in the perfect splen-
dor of her purity, having encountered a quality
which resists her to some degree, be it never
so little. So it is. right to repulse those who
attempt to impassion a judge. In its opera-
tion, man*s justice may meet opposition through
want of power ; for since Justice is a virtue in-
volving other persons, how can one act accord-
ing to its dictates without the power of allotting
to each man what belongs to him P^ It is obvi-
ous from this that in proportion to the just
man's power will be the extent of his exercise
of Justice.
4. From our exposition we may proceed to
argue thus : Justice is most effective in the
world when present in the most willing and
powerful man ; only a Monarch is such a man ;
7. The sun and moon are again referred to in this way. Par,
29. I : ** When both the children of Latona, brooded overby
the Ram and Scales, together make of the horizon a belt.'*
8. Par. 15. I : Into **abenign will . . . is dissolved always
the love which inspires righteously, as evil concupiscence is unto
the unjust will."
9. Eth. 5. I. 15, 17, 20.
Ch. XI] DE MONARCHIA 35
therefore Justice subsisting in a sole Monarch
is the most efFective in the world. This pro-
syllogism runs through the second figure '° with
intrinsic negation, and is like this : Ali B is A ;
only C is A; therefore only C is B. That is,
AH B is A ; nothing except C is A ; therefore
nothing except C is B.
5. The former statement " is apparent from
the forerunning explanation ; the latter, first,
in regard to the will, second, in regard to the
power, is unfolded thus. In regard to the will,
it must first be noted that the worst enemy of
Justice is cupidity, as Aristotle signifies in the
fifth book to Nicomachus.^'' When cupidity is
10. Analyt. Prior. 1.5. The second figure is character-
ized by having the common term (A in this case) in the pre-
dicate, both in the major and minor premise, and by having
one premise positive and one negative.
1 1 . That is, Justice is most pou^erfiil in the world when
present in the most powerfal and willing subject.
12. Eth. 5. 2. 5.
Covetousness, cupidity, or avance, the desire for other than
that which is the intention of God, Dante makes the root of
every wrong. Individuai self-seeking destroys the form, or
order, of the universe. It is related to the evil of multiplicìty
treated of in De Mon. i. 15. Those guilty of avance were
punished in the fourth circle of Inferno, canto 7; Simoniacs in
the eighth circle, Malebolge, canto 1 9 ; and usurers just abovc
in the seventh circle, Inf. 17.
Inf. 12. 49; ** O blind covetousness! O foolish wrath!
26 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
removed altogether, nothing remains inimicai to
Justice ; hence, fearful of the influence of cupid-
ity which easily distorts men's minds, the Phi-
losopher grew to beUeve that whatever can be de-
termined by law should in no wise be relegated
to a judge.'^ Cupidity is impossible when there
is nothing to be desired, for passions cease to
exist with the destruction of their objects. Since
his jurisdiction is bounded only by the ocean/^
that dost so spur us in our short life, and afterward in the life
eternai dost in such evil wise steep us! " Purg. 19. 121;
22. 23, 34.
Purg. 20. 82: " O avarice, what canst thou do more with
US, since thou hast so drawn my race to thee that it cares not
for its own flesh ! ' '
Par. 27. 1 21-124: "O covetousness, which dost so
whelm mortals under thee that none has power to draw his
eyesforth of thywaves! Well flowers in men their wills; but
the rain unbroken turns to sloes the true plums."
Par. 30. 138: Henry carne before his time to Italy be-
cause " The blind covetousness which bewitches you has
made you like the chiid who is dying of hunger and drives
away his nurse."
For fiirther reference to cupidity, see note, Aquinas Ethi-
cus. Voi. 2. p. 396. Rickaby.
13. Rhetoric i. i. 7. Conv. 4. 4. i: "Thewhole earth
. . . should be under one prince, . . . possessing everything,
and therefore incapable of fùrther desire."
1 4. Aen. 1 . 2 8 7 : * * Imperium Oceano, famam qui terminet
astris."
In the letter to Henry VII, Letter ^. 3, the idea is am-
Ch. XI] DE MONARCHIA 37
there is nothing for a Monarch to desire. This
is not true of the other princes, whose realms
terminate in those of others, as does the King of
Castile's in that of the King of Aragon. So we
conclude that among mortals the purest subject
"^for the indwelling of Justice is the Monarch.
' 6:"Mc)reover, to the extent however small
that cupidity clouds the mental attitude toward
Justice, charity or right love clarifies and bright-
ens it. In whomever, therefore, right love can be
jpresenlTto the highest degree, in him can Jus-
tice find the most effective place. Such is the
^Monarch, in whose person Justice is or may be
most effective. That right love acts as we bave
said, may be shown in this way : avance, scorn-
ing man*s competency,'^ seeks things beyond
plified: " The power of the Romans is limited neither by the
conimes of Italy, nor by the shores of three-horned Europe.
For although through violence its dominions may have been
narrowed on ali sides, none the less, since it extends to the
waves of Amphitrite by inviolable right, it barely deigns to be
girded round about by the ineffectual billows of the ocean.
For to US it was written: * Of illustrious origin shall Trojan
Caesar be bom: his empire shall end with the ocean, his fame
with the stars.* **
15. «* Perseitate hominum." Witte instances the same
wordfOckham, Quatuor Lii>ros SenUn. i. 2.4: **Omnispro-
positio,in qua praedicatur passio de suo subiecto cum nomine
perseitatis, esset falsa, quodest absurdum." Ducange defines it
thus: ** Perseitas hominum = facultas per se subsistandi.'*
38 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
him; but charity, scorning ali else, seeks God
and man, and therefore the good of man. And
since to live in peace is chief of man's blessings,
as we said before, and since this is most fully
and easily accomplished by Justice, charity will
make Justice thrive greatly ; with her strength
will the other grow strong.'^
7. That right love should indwell in the
Monarch more than in ali men beside reveals
itself thus : Everything loved is the more loved
the nearer it is to him who loves ; men are
nearer to the Monarch than to other princes ;
therefore they are or ought to be most loved by
him. '7 The first statement is obvious if we cali
to mind the nature of patients and agents ; the
16. Purg. 15. 71: **In proportion as charity extends, in-
creases upon it the eternai goodness."
Par. 3. 43: ** Our charity locks not its doors upon a just
wish." L. e. 70: "A virtue of charity sets at rest our will,
which makes us wish that onlywhich we have.'*
17. Conv. I. 12. 2: " Proximity and goodness are the
causes that engender love."
Conv. 3. IO. i: "The closer the thing desired comes to
him who desires it, the greater the desire is."
Purg. 27. 109: **And already, through the brightness
before the light, which arises the more grateful to pilgrims, as
on their return they lodge less far away. ' '
More, Utopia : «* The king . , . should love his people,
and be loved of them; ... he should live among them, govern
them gently."
Ch. XI] DE MONARCHIA 39
second if we perceive that men approach other
princes in their partial aspect, but a Monarch
in their totality. And again, men approach
other princes through the Monarch, and not
conversely ; and thus the guardianship of the
world is primary and immediate with the Mon-
arch, but with other princes it is mediate, deriv-
ing from the supreme care of the Monarch.
8, Moreover, the more universal a cause, the
more does it possess the nature of a cause, for
the lower cause is one merely by virtue of the
higher, as is patent from the treatise on Causes.^^
The more a cause is a cause, the more it loves
its effect, for such love pursues its cause for its
own sake. As we have said, other princes are
causes merely by virtue of the Monarch; then
among mortals he is the most universal cause of
man*s well-being, and the good of man is loved
by him above ali others.'^
18. De Causis, Lcct, 1, This pseudo-Aristotelian treatise,
probably of Arabie origin, was regarded with great reverence
in the Middle Ages, and commentaries were written upon it by
Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and Aegidius Romanus.
Franti, Geschichte der Logik im Abendlande, Voi. 3. pp. 8—
IO.
19. Conv, 4. 4. 3: **Before the coming of the aforesaid
officer [the emperor] no one had at heart the good of ali.'*
Cf. /. r. 4. 5. 3.
Utopia : ** A prince ought to take more care of his people*8
40 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
9. Who doubts now that a Monarch is most
powerfully equipped for the exercise of Jus-
tice? ^° None save he who understands not the
significance of the word, for a Monarch can
have no enemies.
10. The assumed proposition "*" being there-
fore sufficiently explained, the conclusion is cer-
tain that Monarchy is indispensable for the best
ordering of the world.
CHAPTER XII
Humanity is arder ed for the best when most f ree,
I. If the principle of freedom is explained, it
will be apparent that the human race is ordered
for the best when it is most free. Observe,
then, those words which are on the lips of
many but in the minds of few, that the basic
principle of our freedom is freedom of the
will/ Men come even to the point of saying
that free will is free judgment in matters of will,
happiness than of his own, as a shepherd is to take more care
of his flock than of himself. ' '
20. In Par. 1 8 occurs what Butler calls the " apotheosis of
the personified empire/* and there its relation to justice is
made plain. See note 2 in the present chapter of De Mon.
2 1 . That ** Justice is preéminent only under a Monarch. ' *
I. Freedom of the will is discussed in Par, 5. 19 ff.
Ch. XII] DE MONARCHIA 41
and they say true ; but the import of their words
is far from them, as from our logicians who
work daily with certain propositions used as
examples in books of logie ; for instanee, that
" a triangle has three angles equaling two right
angles." '
2, Judgment, I affirm, stands between ap-
prehension and desire ; for first a thing is appre-
hended ; then the apprehension is adjudged
good or bad; and finally he who so judges
pursues or avoids it.^ So if judgment entirely
2. Moore says that this thought is repeated more than
twcnty times in Aristotle, e. g. Analyt, Prior. 2. 21; Magna
Morai, I. I ; ** It would be absurd if a man wishing to prove
that the angle» of a triangle were equal to two right angles
assumed that the soul is immortala '
3 . Conv. 1 . 12.4: * * Although ali virtue is lovable in man,
that is most so which is most peculiarly human; and this is
justice which belongs only to the reason or intellect, that is, the
will/'
Conv. 4. 9. 3: "There are actions . . . which our rea-
son considers as within the province of the will, such as to
ofFend or to help; . . . and these are entirely under the control
of our will, and therefore from them are we called good or
wicked, because they are ali our own."
Conv. 4. 18. I : "Ali the moral virtues come from one
principle, which is a good and habitual choice.**
Purg. 18. 19: * The mind which is created ready to love
18 quick to move to everything which pleases it so soon as by
the pleasure it is aroused to action. Your apprehensive power
draws an intention from an essence which spcaks true, and
42 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
Controls desire, and is hindered by it in no way,
judgment is free ; but if desire influences judg-
ment by hindering it in some manner, judgment
cannot be free, for it acts not of itself, but is
dragged captive by another. Thus brutes can-
not bave free judgment, for their judgments are
always hindered by appetite. And thus intel-
lectual substances whose wills are immutable,1
and disembodied souls ^ who bave departed in
peace, do not lose freedom of the will by rea-
son of this immutability, but retain it in great-
est perfection and power.
displays it within you, so that it makes the mind turn to
that/'
Par. 13. 118: " It occurs that oftentimes the current
opinion swerves in a false direction, and afterwards the desire
binds the understanding.*'
4. Cf. supra^ !• 3' 2, and note io. Conv. 2. 6. 7: <*These
motive powers guide by their thought alone the revolutions
over which each one presides."
5. Conv. 2. 9. 3: '*The soni . . . having left it [the
body], it endures forever in a nature more than human.*'
Conv. 2. I. 4: "The soul, in forsaking its sins, becomes
holy and free in its powers." So Virgil assures Dante when
he hasreached the Earthly Paraidise, Purg. 27. 140: "Await
no more my word or my sign; free, right, and sound is thy
judgment, and it were a fault not to act according to its
thought, wherefore, thee over thyself I crown and mitre."
And of children. Par. 32. 40: ** Spiri ts set free before
that they had true power of choice."
Ch. XII] DE MONARCHIA 43
3. With this in mind we may understand that
this freedom, or basic principle of our freedom,
is, as I said, the greatest gift bestowed by God
upon human nature, for through it we attain
to Joy bere as men, and to blessedness there
as gods.^ If this is so, who will not admit that
6. Purg. 18.55: ** Man knows not whence comes the un-
derstanding of the first cognitions, and the afFection of the first
objects of appetite, for they are in you, as in the bee the desire
of making its honey; and this first volition admits not desert of
praise or blame. Now, whereas about this every other gathers
itself, there is innate in you the faculty which counsels, and
which should hold the threshold of assent. This is the prin-
ciple whereto occasion of desert in you is attracted, according
as it gathers up and winnows out good or guilty love. They
who in reasoning have gone to the foundation have taken note
of that innate liberty, wherefore they have left morality to the
world. Whence let us lay down that of necessity arises every
love which kindles itself in you; of keeping it in check the
power is in you. The noble faculty Beatrice understands for
free will."
Par. 5. 19: *'The greatest gift which God of His bounty
ma de in creating, and the most conformed to His goodness,
and that which He most values, was the freedom of the will,
wherewith the creatures that have intelligence ali, and they
only, were and are endowed.'* Giuliani says that some MSS.
add to these lines of the De Mon.y *' sicut in Paradiso come-
diae jam dixi. * ' Whatever scribe originally inserted them found
their pronounced relationship to Par. 5. 19.
See also 5. 7". i . 59. 3 : ** Only that which has intellect can
act by free judgment; . . . wherever intellect is, there is judg-
ment.'*
44 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
mankind is best ordered when able to use this
principle most efFectively ? But the race is most
free under a Monarch. Wherefore let us know
that the Philosopher holds in his hook con-
cerning simple Being, that whatever exists for its
own sake and not for the sake of another is
free/ For whatever exists for the sake of an-
other is conditioned by that other, as a road
by its terminus. Only if a Monarch rules can
the human race exist for its own sake ; only if
a Monarch rules can the crooked policies ^ be
straightened, namely democracies, oligarchies,
and tyrannies which force mankind into slavery,^
as he sees who goes among them,and underwhich
kings, aristocrats called the best men, and zealots
of popular liberty play at politics.'° For since
7. Metaphys. i. 2. This treatise Dante calls de sìmpli-
citer Ente, here and i. 13. i; i. 15. i; 3. 14. 4, but Prima
Philosophiam. 3. 12. i.
Conv. 3. 14. 3: "The noble and intellectual soul, free in
her special power, which is reason; . . . and the Philosopher
says in the first of the Metaphysicsy that that thing is free which
exists for itself and not for another. ' *
8 . ** Crooked policies ; ' * in the Latin, ' ' politiae obliquae. ' *
9. Reference to politicai servitude is common in Dante,
e. g. Purg. 6. 76: "Ah Italy! thou slave, hostel of woe!"
10. In Poi. 3. 7. 2-5, we find: ** A tyranny is a mon-
archy where the good of one man only is the object of govern-
ment, an oligarchy considers only the rich, and a democracy
Ch. xii] DE MONARCHIA 45
a Monarch loves men greatly, a point already
touched upon, he desires ali men to do good,
which cannot be among players at croolced poli-
cies. Whence the Philosopher in his Politics
says, " Under bad government the good man is
a bad citizen ; but under upright government
' good man * and * good citizen * have the same
meaning." " Upright governments have liberty
as their aim, that men may live for themselves ;
not citizens for the sake of the consuls, nor a
people for a king, but conversely, consuls for
the sake of the citizens, and a king for his peo-
ple.'* As governments are not ali established
for the sake of laws, but laws for governments,
so those living under the laws are not ordered
for the sake of the legislator, but rather he for
only the poor, but no one of them has the common good of
ali in view.'*
The word "politizant,** occurring here, Witte defines as
"regnare et civitati praeesse.** Wicksteed translates it **have
a real policy.'* I find that Milton used an Anglicized form
of the word in his Reformation in England, 2: " Let me
not for fear of a scarecrow, or else through hatred to be
reformed, stand hankering and politizing, when God with
spread hands testifìes to us.'* So I translate the word "play
at polidcs."
11. Po/. 3. 4. 3, 4.
12. '* It is impossible to conceive a people without a prince,
but not a prince without a people.** In his essay on Dante
Lowell quotes this saying of Calvin* 8.
46 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
them, as the Philosopher maintains in what he
has left US concerning the present matter.'^
Wherefore it is also evident that although con-
sul or king may be lord of others with respect
to means of governing, they are servants with
respect to the end of governing ; and without
doubt the Monarch must be held the chief ser-
vant of ali. Now it becomes clear that a Mon-
arch is conditioned in the making of laws by
his previously determined end. Therefore the
human race existing under a Monarch is best
ordered, and from this it follows that a Mon-
archy is essential to the well-being of the world.
CHAPTER XIII
He who is best adapted for rulìng is the best director
of other men,
I. He who is capable of the best qualification
for ruling can best quali fy others. In every
action die chief i ntent ^of the agen t^^ whether it
act by necessity of nature or by choiceyis^^un-
fpldjts cmm lilceness^; ' whence it is that every
13. Poi. 4. I. 9.
I. Conv. 3. 2. 2: *' Each eiFect contains something of the
nature of its cause." Z. e. 3. 14. i : ** For the virtue of one
thing to descend upon another, that other thing must be brought
Ch. xiii] DE MONARCHIA 47
agent, in so far as it acts in this way, delights in
action. Since every existent thing desires its ex-
istence, and since an agent in action amplifies its
existence to a certain extent, delight necessarily
ensues, for delight is bound up in the thing de-
sired.* Nothing can act, therefore, unless exist-
ing already as that which the thing acted upon
is to become ; and therefore the Philosopher
States in his writings of simple Being : " Every
reduction from potentiality to actuality is accom-
plìshed by an actuality of like kind ; " ^ for if
any thing attempted to act under otherconditions,
it would try in vain. Thus may be destroyed
the error of those men who believe by speaking
good and doing evil they can inforni others with
life and character ; and who forget that the hands
of Jacob, though false witnesses,were more per-
suasive than his words, though true.* Hence
to the first one' s likeness ; as wc see plainly in ali naturai agen-
cies, whosc descending upon passive things brings them to
resemble those agencies in so far as they are capableof so doing. **
So in Conv. 4. 22. 4. And see note 5, De Man. 1.2.
2. Conv. 2. 9. 2: "Every cause loves its effect.**
3. Metaphys. 8.8. See Par. 29. 34: ** Pure potency held
the lowest place; in the midst clasped potency with act such a
withe as ncvcr is untwisted." S. T. i. 54-59 ; 1-2. 3. 2.
Also note io. De Mon. 1.3.
4. Gen. 27. 22: ««The voice is Jacob' s voice, but the
hands are the hands of Esaù.'* Cf. De Mon. 2. 12. 5.
48 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
the Philosopher /^ Nicomachus : " In matters of
passion and action, words are less trustworthy
than deeds." ^ And hence the message from
heaven to the sinner David: " What hast thou
to do to declare my statutes ? " ^ As if it had
said, "In vain thou speakest, being other than
thy words." From which we may gather that
he who would best quaHfy others must himself
be supremely qualified.
2. That only a Monarch can be supremely
quahfied for ruling is thus proved. Everything
is more easily and perfectly adapted to any state
or activity as there is present in it less of oppo-
sition to such adaptation. So those who bave
never heard of philosophy come more easily to
a comprehension of philosophic truth than those
who bave heard often thereof, but are imbued
with false opinions. So Galen ^ says with right :
5. Eth. IO. I. 3: '* Arguments about matters of feeling
and action are less convincing than facts.''
6. Ps. 50. 16. Note that the *' sinner'* may yet be **holi-
est of kings ' ' in the following paragraph. See article on Da\dd,
Toynbee' s Dante Dictionary.
7. Claudius Galen (130-200 a. d.), the celebrated phy-
sìcian of Pergamum in Asia, was up to the sixteenth century
the most famous physician of antiquity with the exception of
Hippocrates. Some eighty-three treatises, medicai and philo-
sophical, written by him are stili extant. See Inf. 4. 143. The
quotation about the difficulty of imlearning false knowledge is
from De Cognoscendis Animi Morbisy e. io.
Ch. xm] DE MONARCHIA 49
" Such men need doublé time for gaining know-
ledge." Now, as was shown above, a Monarch
can have no occasion for cupidity, or rather less
occasion than any other men,even other princes/
and cupidity is the sole corrupter of judgment
and hindrance to Justice ; so the Monarch is
capable of the highest degree of judgment and
Justice, and is therefore perfectly qualified, or
especially well qualified, to rule. Those two
qualities are most befitting a maker and execu-
tor of the law, as that holiest of kings testifies
by his petition to God for the attributes meet
for a king and the son of a king, praying: " Give
the king thy judgments, O God, and thy right-
eousness unto the king*s son." '
3. It was rightly assumed, then, that the
Monarch alone is capable of supreme qualifica-
tion to rule. Hence the Monarch is best able
to direct others. Therefore it follows that for
the best ordering of the world, Monarchy is
necessary.
8. De Mon, i. ii. 5.
9. Ps, 72. I. Par, 13. 94: **I have not so spoken that
thou canst not well see that he was a king who asked wisdom,
to the end that he might be a competent king.**
50 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
CHAPTER XIV
What one agent can do ìs he iter done hy one than hy
many,
I. When it is possible to do a thing through
one agent, it is better done through one than
through more." We prove it in this way: Let
A be one agent able to accomplish a given end,
and let A and B be two through whom the same
thing can be accomplished. If the end accom-
plished through A and B can be accomplished
through A alone, B is added uselessly, as no-
thing results from the addition of B which would
not bave resulted from A alone. Now inasmuch
as every addition is idle and superfluous,^ and
every superfluity is displeasing to God and Na-
ture, and everything displeasing to God and
Nature is evil, as is self-evident ; it foUows not
only that whatever can be done through one
agent is better done through one than through
more, but that whatever done through one is
/ I . Moore shows that the basic idea of this chapter is found
in many places in Aristotle: De Part. Anìm, 3. 4; Phys. 7. 6,
etc. This idea reappears in ^aestio de Aqua et Terra 1 3 .
34 (Oxford ed.): ** Quia quod potest fieri per unum, melius
est quod fiat per unum quam per plura."
2. Another common Aristotelian notion. ^Q^DeCaeloi,
4; De Gen. Anim. 2. 6.
\
ch.xiv] de monarchia 51
good, done through more becomes manifestly
evil. Further, a thing is said to be better the
nearer it approaches the best. Its end partakes
of the character of the best. But what is done
by one agent is nearer its end, and therefore
better. That it is nearer its end we see thus :
Let there be an end C to be reached by a single
agent A, or by a dual agent A and B. Evidently
the way from A through B to C is longer than
from A straight to C. Now humanity can be
ruled by one supreme Prince who is Monarch.
2. But it must be noted well that when we
assert that the human race is capable of being
ruled by one supreme Prince, it is not to be
understood that the petty decisions of every
municipality can issue from him directly, for
municipal laws do fail at times and have need of
regulation, as the Philosopher shows in his com-
mendation of equity ^ in the fìfth hook to Ni-
comachus. Nations, kingdoms, and cities have
individuai conditions which must be governed
by different laws. For law is the directive prin-
3 . * * Equity . * * Dante writes C7ri€ix«ai/ — one of the Greek
words that found their way into mediaeval translations of Aris-
totle, and were *' cruelly mauled by the scribes/* says Wick-
steed. The reference is to Eth. 5. io: "And this is the
nature of the equitable, that it is the correction of law, wher-
ever it is defective owing to its uni versali ty."
52 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
ciple of life. The Scythians/ living beyond the
seventh climej^ sufFering great inequality of days
and nights, and oppressed by a degree of cold
almost intolerable, need laws other than the Gar-
amantes/ dwelling under the equinoctial cìrcle,
who have their days always of equal length with
their nights, and because of the unbearable heat
of the air cannot endure the useless burden of
clothing. But rather let it be understood that
the human race will be governed by him in
general matters pertaining to ali peoples, and
through him will be guided to peace by a gov-
ernment common to ali. And this rule, or law,
individuai princes should receive from him, just
4. The Scythians were vaguely understood to be the nomad
tribes north of the Black Sea and the Caspian. Dante speaks
of them again. De Mon. 2. 9. 3; 3. 3. i.
5. Ptolemy's KKiixara. or climates were belts of the earth's
surface, divided by lines parallel to the equator. The length
of day determined the position of each terrestrial climate, each
having half an hour more than the preceding one. The seven
climates of the northern hemisphere are described by Alfra-
ganus in his Elementa Astronomica. The system of climates
developed into that of the present parallels of latitude. Our
word ** climate " came from the application of a place name
to the temperature of the region. See Toynbee' s Dici. s. v.
«* Garamantes." Cf. Conv. 3. 5. 8.
6. The tribes south of the Great Desert were known as
the Garamantes. See Lucan, Phar, 4. 334; 9. 369. In Conv,
3.5. 8 they are described as men **who go almost always
naked.''
Ch. XIV] DE MONARCHIA 53
as for any operative conclusion the practical in-
tellect receives the major premise from the spec-
ulative intellect, adds thereto the minor premise
peculiarly its own, and draws the conclusion for
the particular operation. This government com-
mon to ali not only may proceed from one ; it
must do so, that ali confusion be removed from
principles of universal import. Moses himself
wrote in the law that he had done this ; for when
he had taken the chiefs of the children of Israel,
he relinquished to them minor decisions, always
reserving for himself those more important and
of larger application; and in their tribes the chiefs
made use of those of larger application accord-
ing as they might be applied to each tribe.^
3. Therefore it is better that the human race
should be ruled by one than by more, and that
the one should be the Monarch who is a unique
Prince. And if it is better, it is more acceptable
to God, since God always wills what is better.
And inasmuch as between two things, that which
is better will be likewise best, between this rule
by "one" and this rule by "more,"rule by "one"
7. Exod. 18. 17-26; Deut. I. 10-18. Moses as law-
giver is frequently quoted in this treatise on Monarchy: 2. 4.
l; 2. 13. 2; 3. 5. I, ctc. Moses is honored together with
Samuel and John in Par, 4. 29 as those who ** ha ve most
part in God.**
54 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
is acceptable to God not only in a comparative
but in a superlative degree. Wherefore the
human race is ordered for the best when ruled
by one sovereign. And so Monarchy must
exist for the welfare of the world.
CHAPTER XV
In every sort of thing that is best whìch is most one,
I. Likewise I affirm that beingand unityand
goodness exist seriatìm according to the fifth
mode of priority/ Being is naturally antece-
dent to unity, and unity to goodness ; that which
has compietesi being has compietesi unity and
compietesi goodness. And as far as anything
is from compietesi being, just so far is it from
unity and also from goodness. That in every
class of objects the best is the most unified,
the Philosopher maintains in bis ireatise on
simple Being.^ From ibis it would seem that
unity is the rooi of goodness, and multiplicity
is the rooi of evil. Wherefore Pythagoras in
his Correlaiions ^ placed unity on the side of
1. **Priorit7 " translates the Latin word prius. See Arist.
Categ. 12. Moore. Conv. 3. 2. 2: **The first of ali things
is being, and before it is nothing.'*
2. Metaphys. i. 5.
3. The centrai thought in the Pythagorean philosophy is
Ch. XV] DE MONARCHIA 55
good and multiplicity on the side of evil, as
appears in the first hook on simple Being.* We
number, it bcing the principle and essence of evcrything. The
theory of opposites gave rise to the Pythagorean (rwrroLx^a,
parallel tables, or correlations: —
I. Limited.
Unlimited.
2. Odd.
Even.
3. Unity.
Plurality.
4. Right.
Left.
5. Masculine.
Feminine.
6. Rest.
Motion.
7. Straight.
Crooked.
8. Light.
Darkness.
9. Good.
Evil.
IO. Square.
Oblong.
See thearticleon Pythagoras in Toynbee, Studies, pp. 87-96.
Conv. 3. II. 2: <* In the timeof Numa Pompilius . . . there
lived a most noble philosopher, called Pythagoras."
4. Metaphys. as in note 2. Cf. Conv. 2. 14. io: ** Pytha-
goras . . . puts odd and even as the principles of naturai
things, considering ali things as number.'*
The unity of goodness is one of the cardinal points in Dante' s
philosophy. It is his theory ofform and his theory of justice.
So the poet of the Divine Comedy makes God in the Empy-
rean visualized unity, as Satan in Hell is visualized multiplicity.
Par. 28. 16: ** I saw a point w^hich radiated light so keen
that the sight which it fires must needs dose itself. . . . From
that point depends the heaven and ali nature."
Par. 33. 85: ** I saw how there enters, bound with love
in one volume, that vv^hich is distributed through the universe;
substance and accident and their fashion, as though fused to-
gether m such wise that that which I teli of is one single
56 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. ,
can thus see that to sin is naught else than to
despise unity, and to depart therefrom to multi-
plicity ; which the Psalmist surely felt when he
said, " By the fruit of their corn and wine and
oil are they multiplied.'* ^
2. Therefore it is established that every good
thing is good because it subsists in unity. As
concord is a good thing in itself, it must subsist
in some unity as its proper root, and this proper
root must appear if we consider the nature or
meaning of concord. Now concord is the uni-
form movement of many wills ; and unity of
will, which we mean by uniform movement, is
the root of concord, or rather concord itself. For
just as we should cali many clods concordant
because ali descend together toward the centre,
and many flames concordant because they as-
cend together to the circumference, if they did
this voluntarily, so we cali many men concordant
because they move together by their volition to
one end formally present in their wills ; while
in the case of the clods is formally present the
single attribute of gravity, and in the flames the
single attribute of levity.^ For power of willing
light. The universal forni of this knot I belle ve I saw."
See Inf. 34. 37 for the descriptlon of Satan.
5. Ps, 4. 7.
6. Eth, 2. 1 . 2 : " The stone which by nature goes down-
Ch. XV] DE MONARCHIA 57
ìs a certain potentiality, but the species of good-
ness which it apprehends is its form, which, like
other forms, is aunity multiplied in itself accord-
ing to the multiplicity of the receiving material,
just as soul, number, and other forms subject to
composition/
ward could never be accustomed to go upward, . . . nor could
fire be accustomed to bum downward."
Conv. 3. 3. I : ** Everything . . . has its special love ; as
simplc bodies bave a naturai love for their own place; where-
fore earth always falls toward the centre, and fire is drawn
toward the circumference above."
Inf, 32. 73: **We were going toward the centre, to
which ali gravity is collected." L. e. 34. i io: "The point
to the which from every part the weights are drawn.**
Purg, 18. 28: " As the fire moves on high, by reason of
its fiarm, so ... the mind seized enters into desire, which is
a motion of the spirit.** Also Purg. 32. 109.
Par. I. 115: ** Thisbears away the fire toward the moon;
this is the motive power in the hearts of men; this binds the
earth together and makes it one.'* Cf. Par. 1. 133, 141; 4.
77; 23. 42.
7. The species of good which anything apprehends is its
form, that principle which makes it what it is. In this case
the volitional power of willing is the material or matter, while
the species or sort of goodness which is the end of the volition
is the form. So it makes no difference how many people
will, so long as they will the same thing, for the form is then
the same, if the material is various.
The composite character of the soul is treated Conv. 3. 2. 3,
whcrc it b shown to have three powers, vegetable, sensitive,
and rational according to Arist. De Caelo 2. See Purg. 25. 74.
58 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
3. These things being premised, we may ar-
gue as follows for the proposed exposition of
the originai assumption : Ali concord depends
upon unity in wills ; mankind at its best is a
concord of a certain kind. For just as oneman
at his best in body and spirit is a concord of
a certain kind/ and as a household, a city, and
a kingdom is likewise a concord, so it is with
mankind in its totality. Therefore the human
race for its best disposition is dependent on unity
in wills. But this state of concord is impossible
unless one will dominates and guides ali others
into unity, for as the Philosopher teaches in
the last hook to Nicomachus^ mortai wills need
directing because of the alluring delights of
youth.9 ^QY is this directing will a possibility
unless there is one common Prince whose will
may dominate and guide the wills of ali others.'°
8. Conv, 3. 8. i: "Of ali the works of Divine wisdom,
man is the most wonderflil, considering how Divine povs^er
has united three natures under one form, and how subdy har-
monized must his body be with that form.'*
Conv. 3. 15. 5: **The beauty of the body results from
the proper ordering of its members."
Conv, 4. 25. 7: *'The proper ordering of our members
produces a pleasure of I know not what wonderflil harmony. ' *
9. Eth. IO. 9. 8: '*To live temperately and patiendy is
not pleasant to the majority, and especially to the young."
10. Conv. 4. 9. 3 : ** We may almost say of the Emperor,
Ch. xvi] DE MONARCHIA 59
If the conclusions above are true, as they are,
Monarchy is essential for the best disposition
of mankind ; and therefore for the well-being of
the world Monarchy should exist therein.
CHAPTER XVI
Christ wilUd to be barn in the fullness of urne when
Augustus was Monarchi
I . A phenomenon not to be forgotten attests
the truth of ali the arguments placed in order
above, namely, that condition of mortals which
the Son of God, when about to become man for
the salvation of man, either awaited, orordained
at such time as He willed.' For if from the fall
wishing to represent his office by a figure, that he is the rider
of human will. And it is very evident how wildly this horse
goes over the field without a rider."
I . For the outline of the argument in this chapter see Oro-
8ÌU8, Hist. 6. 22. 5.
Conv, 4. 5. 2: "The immeasurable Divine Goodness,
wishing to bring back to Itself the human creature, which by
the sin of the transgression of the first man had become sepa-
rated from God and unlike Him, it was decreed . . . that the
Son of God should descend to earth to bring about this re-
union. And since at His . . . coming it behoved not only
the heavens, but the earth, to be in the best condition, and
the best condition of the earth is under a monarchy . . .
therefore Divine Providence ordained the people and the city
wherein this should be fulfilled, that is, Rome the glorious.**
6o DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
of our first parents, at which point of departure
began ali our error/ we survey the ordering of
men and times, we shall find no perfect Mon-
archy, nor the world everywhere at peace, save
under the divine Monarch Augustus.^ That
De Mon, Book 2 is devoted to this subject of Rome's foreor-
dination.
2. The result of Adam's sin Matilda touches on in her dis-
course with Dante on the nature of the terrestrial Paradise,
Purg. 28. 91 : ** The highest Good, which does only its own
pleasure, made the man good and for good, and gave him
this place for an earnest to him of eternai peace. Through his
own default he abode here little time; through his own de fault
he changed to weeping and toil honest laughter and sweet
mirth."
Par. 7. 26: ** For not enduring to the faculty that wills any
curb for its own advantage, that man who was never born,
in damning himself, damned ali his progeny.'* See De Mon.
2. 13. I, and notes.
3 . In the image symbolic of human history, Inf. 1 4. 94 fF. ,
Dante identifies the golden age with the reign of Augustus.
Line 112: *' Every part beside the gold is burst with a cleft
which drips tears.'*
Par, 6. 55: *' Hard upon that time when the heaven
wholly willed to bring back the world to its tranquil order,
Caesar by the will of Rome bare it. . . . It laid the world
in such a peace that Janus had his shrine locked up."
Conv. 4. 5. 3: "Nor ever was, nor ever will be, this
world so perfectly disposed as then. . . . Universal peace
reigned, which never was before nor ever will be again, be-
cause the ship of human society sped over a smooth sea
straight to its destined port."
Ch. xvi] DE MONARCHIA 6i
men were then blessed with the tranquillity of
universal peace ali historians testify, and ali il-
lustrious poets ; this the writer of the gentleness
of Christ * felt it meet to confìrm, and last of ali
Paul, who called that most happy condition
" the fiilness of the time." ^ Verily, rime and
ali temporal things were full, for no ministry to
our happiness lacked its mìnister. But what has
been the condition of the world since that day
the seamless robe^ first sufFered mutilation by
the claws of avarice, we can read — would that
we could not also see! O human race! what
tempests must need toss thee, what treasure be
thrown into the sea, what shipwrecks must be
endured,^ so long as thou, like a beast of many
heads,^ strivest after diverse ends ! Thou art
4. Luke 2. I, 14.
5. Gal. 4. 4: ** But when the fulness of the time was
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law." Cf. Eph. i. io.
6. John 19. 23: ** Now the coat was without seam,
woven from the top throughout." Dante uses the figure here
to denote the undivided empire. The papal party used the
same figure in their arguments to denote undivided ecclesiasti-
ca! authority. De Mon. 3. io. 4.
7. This figure of the ship of human society is found in
Conv, 4. 5. 3 (see note 3 of the present chapter), Purg.
6. 77: ** Ah, Italy . . . ship without a pilot in a great tem-
pest,'* etc.
8. This nùjced metaphor of Dante' s, **dum bellua muho-
62 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i
sick in either intellect,^ and siclc likewise in thy
afFection. Thou healest not thy high under-
standing by argument irrefutable, nor thy lower
by the countenance of experience. Nor dost
rum capitum factum," is a further illustration of the e vii of
multiplicity and lack of concord in men's wills. Cf. De
Mon, I. 15. I, and note. Beside the evil of many discord-
ant wills, there is reference to the evils that may be included
under the term ** bestiai." See Conv. 4. 5. 3: ** Vile beasts
that pasture in the shape of men." See especially Inf.y
cantos 12-17. Also note 14, De Mon. 2. 3.
9. The two intellects were the possible or apprehensive
intellect, and the active intelligence. Cf. De Mon. i. 3. 2.
To these two powers Dante adds that of aifection.
Purg. 18. 55: "Man knows not whence comes the
understanding of the first cognitions, and the affection of the
first objects of appetite."
Par. I. 120: ** Creatures . . . that ha ve intellect and
love."
Par. 6. 122; 13. 120; 15.43: *' When the bow of his
ardent afFection was so slackened that his speech descended
towards the mark of our understanding, the first thing that was
by me understood was, * Blessed be Thou, threefold and
one.* " Z. r. 15. 73: " The afFection and the thought when
as the first Equality appeared to you, became of one weight
for each of you."
The two intellects and the afi'ection are the threefold means
given to man by which he may arrive at the unity which
is goodness in completeness, and there may see and know
God. This suggests the means by which Dante achieves
his vision in the Divine Comedy — Virgil, Beatrice, and St.
Bernard.
Ch. xvi] DE MONARCHIA 63
thou heal thy afFection by the sweetness of di-
vine persuasion, when the voice of the Holy
Spirit breathes upon thee, " Behold, how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to-
gether in unity ! " '°
IO. Ps. 133. I.
BOOK II
WHETHER THE ROMAN PEOPLE RIGHTFULLY
APPROPRIATED THE OFFICE OF MONARCHY
CHAPTER I
Introduction,
1. " Why do the heathen rage, and the peo-
ple imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take coun-
sel together against the Lord and against his
Anointed, saying, *Let us break their bands
asunder, and cast away their yoke from us.* " '
2. We are wont to marvel at any strange
effect when we have never beheld the face of
its cause/ and, when we have learned to know
the cause, to look down with a sort of derision
on those stili lost in astonishment. I, in truth,
1, Ps. 2. 1-3. Cf. Acts \. 25-27. The same languagè
of the Psalm is used in Le iter 6. 2: ** To the infamous Flor-
entines within the city."
2. Conv. 4. 25. 4: "The sight of great and wonderflil
things . . . make those that perceive them desire to know
them.**
Purg. 28. 90: "I will teli how by its cause proceeds that
which makes thee wonder; and I will purge away the cloud
which smites.**
Par. 1 . 83 : ** The strangeness of the sound and the great
light kindled in me a desire for their cause never before felt
with such keenness.**
68 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
at one time. marveled that without resistance the
Roman people had become sovereign through-
out the earth ; for, looking merely superficially
at the matter, I believe they had obtained sover-
eignty not by right, but by force of arms alone.^
However, after the eyes of my mind had pierced
to the marrow thereof, and I had come to un-
derstand by most convincing tokens that Divine
Providence had effected this thing, my wonder
vanished, and in its place rises a certain derisive
contempt when I bear the heathen raging against
the preèmìnence of the Roman race ; when I see
people, as I was wont, imagining a vain thing ;
when, more than ali, I find to my grief kings
and princes concordant only in the error '* of
3. Conv, 4. 4. 3: ** Some may demiir, saying . . . the
Roman power was not acquired by reason, nor by decree of
a universal convention, but by force.*'
Conv. 4. 4. 5: *' Force was not the active cause; . . .
not force but law, and that Divine, was the beginning of the
Roman Empire."
4. Reading "in hoc vitio'* (in the error) and "unico
suo'* (His one) with Moore and Witte, rather than "in
hos unico ** and " uncto suo " with Giuliani. See Toynbee,
Dante Studies, p. 302, for his interesting support of Giuliani' s
reading and its bearing on the date of the De Mon. If, as he
believes, " uncto " definitely refers to Henry VII as the Lord's
"anointed," there would be strong reason for dating the
treatise at a time shortly after Henry' s coming to Italy.
The whole of par. 2 is interesting for the information it
ch. i] de monarchia 69
(
taking counsel together against their Lord and
His one Roman Frince. Wherefore, on behalf
of this glorious people and of Caesar I exclaim,
in derision that is also sorrow, with him who
cried aloud on behalf of the Prince of heaven,
" Why do the heathen rage, and the people im-
agine a vain thing ? The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord, and a gainst his anointed ."
3. Yet lasting derision is not compatible with
naturai love, but as the summer sun, rising
splendid above the scattered mists of morning,
sheds abroad its beams, so love, dispelling its
derision, would send forth an amending light. ^
To break asunder, then, the bonds of ignorance
for those kings and princes, to prove the human
race free from their yoke, I will exhort myself,
as did that most holy prophet whom I follow,
with the words that come in order after, " Let
US break their bands asunder, and cast away
their cords from us."
contains concerning the change of politicai opinion that carne
upon Dante at some time in his life and made him one of the
most enthusiastic and idealistic of Ghibellines, so idealistic in-
deed that in IhtrgT-Q^, 69 Cacciaguida rightly prophesies of
the poet, ** It shall be honorable to thee to ha ve made thee a
party by thyself.**
5. This figure is found agaìn Conv. 2. 14. 3: " Labor of
study and strife of doubt ... are dissipated almost like little
morning clouds before the face of the sun.**
70 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
4. These two things will be done well enough
if I proceed with the second part of my main
proposition, and reveal the truth of the question
now pending. For when it is proved that the
Roman Empire existed by right, not only will
the clouds of ignorance be cleared from the eyes
of kings and princes who usurp to themselves
public guidance, falsely believing that the Ro-
man people had done so, but ali mortals will
know that they are free from the yoke of usurp-
ers. Nor will the truth be revealed in the light
of human reason alone, but also in the radiance
of divine authority. iVnd when these two unite
together, heaven and earth must together give
approvai.^ Resting, therefore, in that trust of
which I have previously spoken,^ and supported
by the testimony of reason and authority, I
enter upon the solution of the second question.
CHARTER II
What God wills in human society is to be held as right.
I. Now that the truth of the first question
has been investigated as adequately as the sub-
ject-matter permitted, the second question urges
6. Par. 25. 2: *«The sacred poem to which both heaven
and earth have set a hand.'*
7. De Mon. i. i. 2.
Ch. ..] DE MONARCHIA 71
US to investigate its truth as to whether the
Roman people appropriateci the dignity of em-
pire by Right. The starti ng-point of this inves-
tigation is that verity to which the arguments
of the present inquiry may be referred as to
their own first principle.'
2. It must be understood, therefore, that as
art exists in a threefold degree, in the mind of
the artist, in the instrument, and in the matter
informed by the art/ so may Nature be looked
upon as threefold. For Nature exists in the
mind of the Frimai Motor, who is God,' and
then in heaven, as in the instrument through
whose mediation the likeness of eternai good-
ness is unfolded on fluid matter/ When the
1. De Moti. i. 2. 2; 3. 2. i.
2. Gen. Anim. 5. 8. Conv. 3. 6. 2: " Motive Powers
. . . cause ... ali general forms."
3 . Letter 5. 8 : < * From the motion of the heavens we should
know the Motor and His will."
Par, 2. 131: "The heaven which so many lights make
fair, from the deep mind of Him who revolves it takes the
image." L. e. 30. 107; 33. 145: "The Love which moves
the sun and ali the stars.'*
Cf. Df Mon. ali of chapter 1.8, and note i.
4. "In fluitantem materiam."
Par. 29. 22: ** Form and matter in conjunction and in
purity came forth to an existence which had no erring, as from
a three-stringed bow three arrows." Cf. De Mon. i. 3. 2,
and note io.
5. T. I. 46. 2: "The angels are pure form; form con-
72 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
artist is perfect, and his instrument without fault,
any flaw that may appear in the form of the art
can then be imputed to the matter only. Thus,
since God is ultimate perfection, and since hea-
ven, his instrument, sufFers no defect in its re-
quired perfectaess (as a philosophic study of
heaven makes clear),^ it is evident that whatever
flaw mars lesser things is a flaw in the subjected
material,^ and outside the intention of God
working through Nature,^ and of heaven ; and
that whatever good is in lesser things cannot
come from the material itself, which exists only
potentially, but must come first from the artist,
God, and secondly from the instrument of
joined with matter appears in the visible creation; pure matter
is not perceivable hy the senses, but must be held to exist, and
to have been created.'* Also S. T. i. 105. 4.
5. Inf. II. 97: "Philosophy . . . notes . . . how nature
takes her course from the understanding of God, and from His
workmanship. "
6. Co/^v. 3. 6. 2: "And if this perfect form, copied
and individualized, be not perfect, it is from no defect in the
example, but in the matter of which the individuai is
made."
Par. I. 127: " Form many times accords not with the in-
tention of the art, because the matter is deaf to respond. ' '
Far. 13. 67: '*The wax of these and that which moulds
it stands not in one manner, and therefore under the seal of
the Idea more and less thereafter shines through."
7. " Praeter intentionem Dei naturantis et caeli."
Ch. Il] DE MONARCHIA 73
divine art, heaven, which men generally cali
Nature.*
3. From these things it is plain that inas-
much as Right is good, it dwells primarily in the
mind of God ; and as according to the words,
" What was made was in Him life," ^ every-
thing in the mind of God is God, and as God
especially wills what is characteristic of Himself,
it follows that God wills Right according as it
is in Him. And since with God the will and
the thing willed are the same, it follows further
that the divine will is Right itself. And the fur-
ther consequence of this is, that Right is nothing
other than likeness to the divine will. Hence
whatever is not consonant with divine will is not
right, and whatever is consonant with divine will
is right.'° So to ask whether something is done
8. For the mediaeval account of creation and the part of
the heavens therein see 5. T. 1.66. 1-3; i. no. 2; i. 115.
3-6. Cf. Bacon, Nov. Org. i. 66.
Conv. 4. 9. I : ** Universa! Nature . . . has jurisdiction as
fer as the whole world extends."
James i. 17: <* Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above.'*
9. John I. 3, 4: " Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine
ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est. In ipso vita erat, et
vita erat lux hominum." Moore says that Augustine twice
quotes from these verses as Dante does here; ** Quod factum
est, in ipso vita erat.**
10. Par, 32. 61: **The King through whom this reahn
74 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. h
with Right,although the words differ,is the same
as to ask whether it is done according to the will
of God. Let this therefore base our argument,
that whatever God wills in human society must
be accepted as right, true, and pure.
4. Moreover, that should be remembered
which the Philosopher teaches in the first book
to NicomachuSy " Like certainty is not to be
sought in every matter, but according as the
nature of the subject admits it." " Wherefore
our arguments will advance adequately under
the principle established, if we investigate the
Right of this great people through visible signs
and the authority of the wise. The will of God
is in itself an invisible attribute, but by means
of things which are made the invisible attributes
of God become perceptible to the intellect.'*
résts in so great love and in so great delight that no will dares
aught beyond, creating ali the minds in the Joy of His coun-
tenance, as His own pleasure endows with grace diversely.**
Par. 19. 86: "The primary Will, which is of itself good,
never has moved from itself, that is the highest Good.**
11. Eth. I. 7. 18. Used againin Conv. 4. 13. 3: "And
in the first of the Ethics he says that * the educated man de-
mands certainty of knowledge about things, in so far as their
nature admits of certainty. ' **
12. ' Rom. I. 20: ** For the invisible things of Him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made."
Conv. 3. 12. 3: **It is convenient to treat of things not
Ch. Il] DE MONARCHIA 75
For, though a seal be hidden, the wax impressed
therewith bears manifest evidence of the unseen
signet ; '^ nor is it remarkable that the divine
perceprible by the senses by means of things perceptible. * * See
also Conv. 4. io. 3; 4. 1 6. 7; 4. 22. 6: ** The intellect . . .
cannot have its perfect use (which is to behold God, who is
Supreme Intelligence) except in so far as the Intellect con-
siders Him, and beholds Him in His effects." Z. r. 3. 8. 8:
** AH things which so overcome our intellect that we cannot
see what they are, it is most fitting to treat by their efFects."
Letter ^. 8: **Through those things which have been cre-
ated by God the human creature sees the invisible things with
the eyes of the intellect; and if from things better known those
less known are evident to us, in like manner it concerns human
apprehension that from the motion of the heavens we should
know the Motor and His will.'*
1 3. The following are the more important of the many ex-
amples of Dante* s use of the figure regarding the wax and seal.
Conv. I. 8. 7: ** Utility stamps upon the memory the image
of the gift, which is the nutriment of friendship, and the better
the gift the stronger this impression is."
Conv. 2. IO. 5 : " If wax had the sentiment of fear, it would
be more afraid to come under the rays of the sun than stone
would; because its nature makes it susceptible of a more power-
fùl impression therefrom.*'
Inf. II. 49: "The smallest circle stamps with its seal
Sodom and Cahors."
Purg. IO. 45: ** And she upon her action this speech im-
printed — Ecce anelila Dei! as aptly as a figure is made on
wax by a seal.**
Purg. 18. 39: *« Not every seal is good, even though good
be the wax.**
Purg. 25. 95: ** Here the neighborìng air puts itself in that
76 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
will must be sought in signs, for the human will,
except to him who wills, is discerned no way else
than in signs.''*
CHAPTER III
The Romans as the noblest people deserved precedence
hefore ali others,
T. I say with regard to this question, that
the Roman people by Right and not by usurpa-
tion took to itself over ali mortals the office of
form which the soul that has remained by its virtue stamps
upon it."
Purg. 33. 79: ** As wax by a seal, which changes not the
figure impresseci, so is my brain now stamped by you."
Par. I. 41 : The sun ** to its own fashion moulds and seals
the wax of the world. ' '
Par. 2. 130: <* And the heaven which so many lights make
fair, from the mind of Him who revolves it takes the image,
and makes thereof a seal. ' '
Par. 7. 69: "That which from It immediately distils has
no end thereafter, because when It seals, Its impress is un-
moved."
Par. 8. 128: ««The nature of the spheres . . . is seal to
the mortai wax."
Par. 13. 67 fF. See note 6 of this chapter.
14. Conv. 4. 5. I : «'It is no wonder if Divine Providence,
which transcends ali human and angelic perception, often pro-
ceeds in a way mysterious to us; since it often happens that
human actions have for men themselves a hidden meaning.'*
Ch. m] DE MONARCHIA 77
Monarchy, which men cali the Empire. This
may first be proved thus : It was meet that the
noblest people should have precedence over ali
others ; the Roman people was the noblest ; '
therefore it was meet that it should have prece-
dence over ali others. The major premise ' is
demonstrable, for, since honor is the reward
of virtue, and ali precedence is honor, ali pre-
cedence is a reward of virtue.^ It is agreed
that men are ennobled as virtues of their own or
their ancestors make them worthy. Nobility is
" virtue and ancient wealth," according to the
Philosopher in the Politics ; ^ but according to
Juvenal, " Virtue is the one and only nobility
of soul." 5 These two definitions grant two
1. Conv. 4. 4. 4: ** And because a nature more gentle in
governing, more powerfiil in maintaining, and more subtle in
acquiring, than that of the Latin people there never was and
never will be, . . . therefore God elected them for this office. ' '
TThe nobility of Rome has special consideration C^nv. 4. 5;
Par. 6. 19, 20.
2. " Adsumpta/* the major premise. In paragraphs 2 and
8 the word ** subadsumpta " is used for minor premise.
3. Eth. 4. 3. 15.
4. Poi. 4. 8. 9. So we find in Conv. 4, Canz. 3. 2: **ThÌ8
very false opinion among men, that one is wont to cali him
noble who can say, * I was the son or grandson of a truly
noble man,* though he himself were worthless." In Conv.
4. 7 hereditary nobility is proved to be a thing impossible.
5. Juvenal, Sat. 8. 20. Cf. Conv. 4. 29. 4, where the
78 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
kinds of nobility, one*s own and that of one's
ancestors.^
2. By reason of the cause inherent in nobility
the reward of precedence is befitting the noble.
And as rewards should be commensurate with
merits, in consonance with that saying of the
Gospel, " With what measure ye mete, it shall
be measured to you again," ^ the foremost rank i
should be to the noblest. As for the minor
premise, the testimony of the ancients is con-
vincing, since Virgil, our divine Poet,^ through-
satire is discusseci at some length. Dante speaks again of Juve-
nal in Purg. 22. 13. His relation to Dante is considered by
Moore, Voi. i, in Studies, pp. 255-258.
6. Ali of Book 4 in the Convito is given up to an exposi-
tion of the nature of nobility, according to the definition of
Juvenal rather than that of Aristotle.
Canx. 3. 6: ** Nobility exists where Virtue dwells, not
Virtue where she is." Conv. 4. 18. i : ** Ali the virtues . . .
proceed from nobility as an effect from its cause.**
Par. 16. i: ** O small nobility of blood that is ours."
7. Man. 7. 2.
8. "Divinus poeta nostra,** or "poeta nostra,** as Virgil
is called throughout the De Mon., is but one of the numberless
evidences of the affection and reverence Dante felt for the Latin
poet. Most beautiful is the well-known tribute in Inf. i. 79:
" O degli altri poeti onore e lume,
Vagliami il lungo studio e il grande amore,
Che m' ha fatto cercar lo tuo volume.
Tu sei lo mio maestro e il mio autore:
Tu sei solo colui, da cui io tolsi
Lo bello stile, che m' ha fatto onore."
Ch. in] DE MONARCHIA 79
out his Aenetd testifìes in everlasting remem-
brance that the father of the Roman people was
Aeneas, the famous kìng; and Titus Livius,
illustrious writer of Roman deeds, confirms this
testimony in the first part of his volume which
begins with the capture of Troy.^ So great was
the nobleness of this man, our ancestor most
invincible and most pious, nobleness not only
of his own considerarle virtue, but that of his
jDrogenitors and consorts, which was transferred
to him by hereditary right, that I cannot unfold
it in detail, " I can but trace the main outlines
of truth." '°
3. As to his personal nobility, hearken to
our poet in the first hook of the Aeneidy intro-
ducing Ilioneus with the plea, "Aeneas was our
king, than whom none other was more just
and pious, none other greater in war and arms." "
Hearken to him again in the sixth, when, speak-
For Virgil*s place and influence in the Middle Ages see Com-
paretti, Virgilin the Middle Ages ; Sellar, Virgil ; and Moore,
Studies, Voi. I. pp. 166-197.
9. Livy I . I . As will be seen later in the De Mon.y Dante
uses Livy freely as an historical authority. Moore writes of
Dante*s relation to the Roman historian in Studies, Voi. i.
pp. 273-278.
10. Aen. I. 342: ** Sed summa sequar vestigia rerum."
Ali modem editions have *< fastigia " for ** vestigia."
1 1. Aen. I. 544.
80 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. h
ing of the dead Misenus, Hector*s attendant
in war, who entered the service of Aeneas after
Hector's death, he says, Misenus " had followed
no lesser fortunes." " This compares Aeneas
with Hector, whom Homer '^ honors above ali
men, as the Philosopher affirms in that part of
the writings to Nicomachus on " types of con-
duct to be avoided." '^
4. As to his hereditary nobility, it accrues
to him from the three continents of the earth
through his ancestors and his consorts.
5. Asia ennobled him through his most im-
mediate ancestors, Assaracus and those who
had ruled over Phrygia, a region of Asia, as our
poet records in these lines of the third hook :
12. Aen. 6. 170. For the death of Misenus see Conv. 4.
26. 6.
13. Homer, //. 24. 259, quoted Eth. 7. i. i. Three
difFerent times Dante uses these Homeric lines: in the Fita
Nuova f § 2; in Conv. 4. 20. 2: ** There are men most noble
and divine . . . Aristotle proves in the seventh of the Ethics
by the text of Homer the poet; ** and in the passage of the
De Mon. here being considered.
In regard to Dante' s knowledge of Homer see Moore,
Studies, Voh I. pp. 164-166; Toynbee, StudieSy pp. 204-
215.
14. In Inf. II. 79-83 Virgil asks, "Hast thou no mem-
ory of those words with which the Ethics handle the three
dispositions which Heaven brooks not, — incontinence, mal-
ice, and mad beastliness ? "
Ch. Ili], DE MONARCHIA 8i
" After it had seemed good to the gods to over-
turn the might of Asia and the race of Priam
unmeriting their fate." '^ Europe ennobled him
through Dardanus/^ most ancient of his ances-
tors, and Africa through Electra, his most an-
cient ancestress, daughter of King Atlas of
great renown. Concerning both of these facts
our poet renders testimony in the eighth hook,
where Aeneas speaks thus to Evander: " Dar-
danus, the first founder of the city and father
of Ilium, descended as the Greeks deem from
Atlantian Electra, '^ carne among the Teucrians.
Electra was sprung from Atlas the mighty, who
sustains the heavenly orbs upon his shoulders." '^
6. The hard sings in the third hook of Dar-
danus taking his origin from Europe, saying,
" There is a place the Greeks have named Hes-
15. Aen. 3. I.
1 6. Dardanus was son of Jupiter and Electra of Arcadia,
founder of the city Dardania in Troas, and ancestor of the
royal line of Troy. Cf. Conv. 4. 14. 9.
17. * * Electra, ut Graii perhibent, Atlantide cretus. * ' D ante
inserted an "et" before "Atlantide," thereby blurring the
sense. Moore was the first editor to correct the error. See
Toynbee, Studies, p. 280.
Inf. 4. 121: **l saw Electra with many companions,
among whom I was aware of Hector and Aeneas; . . . and
I saw King Latinus, who was sitting with Lavinia his
daughter. ' '
18. Aen. 8. 134-137.
82 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. h
peria, an ancient country powerful in arms and
fertile in soil, where dwell the Oenotrians.
Rumor has it that later generations called the
country Italy from the name of their leader.
Here is our fatherland ; from hence came Dar-
danus." '^ That Atlas came from Africa, the
mountain is witness which there bears his name.
This mountain Orosius''° locates in Africa in
his description of the world, where he says,
" Now its uttermost bound is Mt. Atlas and
the Islands which they cali the Fortunate."
" Its " refers to Africa, of which he was speak-
ing.
7. I find also that nobility accrued to Aeneas
through marriage. His first wife Creusa, daugh-
ter of Priam, was from Asia, as may be gathered
from the facts quoted above. And that she was
his wife our poet implies in the third hook,
when Andromache thus questions Aeneas con-
cerning his son Ascanius : " What of the boy
Ascanius, he whom Creusa bore to thee while
19. j^en. 3. 163-167.
20. The fourth-century historian, Paulus Orosius, wrote the
Historiae Adversum Paganos, one of the chief historical and
geographical authorities of the mediaeval centuries, and the
source of many of Dante' s statements regarding these two
subjects. See Toynbee, Studiesy pp. 1 21-136, and Moore,
Studies, Voi. I . pp. 279-282. The reference here is to Hist.
I. 2. II.
Ch. IH] DE MONARCHIA 83
Troy was y et smoking ? Lives he stili ? Breathes
he the vital air ? " ^' His second wife was Dido,
queen and mother of the Carthaginians in Africa,
of whom as Aeneas* wife the poet sings in
the fourth hook : " Nor longer Dido dreams of
secret love; she calls it marriage, hiding her
sin beneath a name." " His third wife was
Lavinia, mother alike of Albanians and Romans,
daughter and also heir of King Latinus, if the
testimony of our Poet be true in the last hook,
where he introduces Turnus conquered, sup-
plicating Aeneas with this prayer : " Thou hast
triumphed ; and the Ausonians have beheld me
vanquished lifting up my hands. Lavinia shall
be thy wife." ^^ This last consort was of Italy,
most excellent region of Europe.
8. With these facts pointed out in evidence
of our minor premise, who is not sufficiently con-
vinced that the father of the Roman race, and
therefore the race itself, was the noblest under
heaven ? Or from whom will stili be hidden di-
vine predestination in the twofold meeting in
one man of blood from every part of the world ? //
21. Jen. 3. 339-340. From the latter line, **quem tìbi
iam Troja peperit fumante Creusa," modem editors omit the
last three words as spurious.
22. j^en. 4. 1 71-172.
23. jien. 12. 936-937. In Par. 6. 3 Aeneas is called
"the ancient who carried off Lavinia.**
84 DANTE ALIGHIERI [B.
CHAPTER IV
Because the Roman Empire was aìded by miracles it was
willed of God.
I. Furthermore, whatever is brought to its
perfection by the help of miracles is willed of
God, and therefore comes to pass by Right. The
truth of this is patent from what Thomas ' says
in his third book against the Heathen : " A mir-
acle is that which is done through divine agency
beyond the commonly instituted order of
things." ^ Here he proves that the working of
miracles is competent to God alone, and he is
corroborated by the word of Moses, that when
the magicians of Pharaoh artfully used naturai
principles to bring forth lice and failed, they
1. Thomas Aquinas (i 225-1 274 a. d.), the greatest of
Dominicans, the pupil of Albertus Magnus, the friend of St.
Bonaventura, and the author of the Summa Theologkay Contra
Gentiks, and many other works. Moore points out the ex-
tent of Dante' s debt to him in Studies, Voi. i . pp. 3 1 1— 3 1 8.
The treatise Contra Gentiles here quoted was written to prove
that Christian theology is the ** sum and crownof ali science."
2. Conv. 3. 7. 8: **The very foundation of our faith is
in the miracles done by Him w^ho was crucified, who created
our reason and willed it to be less than His power." L. e,
3. 14. 5: «' Every miracle may be reasonable to a higher in-
tellect."
Ch. IV] DE MONARCHIA 85
cried, " This is the finger of God." ^ If a mir-
acle, then, is the immediate operation of the First
Agent without the coòperation of secondary
agents/ which Thomas himself proves clearly
enough in the hook just cited, then when por-
tents are sent in favor of anything, it is wicked
to deny that that thing comes to pass foreseen
of God and well pleasing to Him. Hence piety
accepts the contradictory, that the Roman Em-
pire gained its perfection with the approvai of
miracles, that it was therefore willed of God,
and consequently that it was and is by Right.
2. And it is established through the testi-
mony of illustrious authors that God revealed
His will in miracles in order that the Roman
Empire might be brought to completion. For
Livy States in the first part of his work that
when Numa Pompilius, second king of the Ro-
mans, was sacrificing according to the religious
rite of the Gentiles, a shield fell from heaven
into the chosen city of God.^ Lucan recalls this
miracle in the ninth book of the Pharsalia in
3. Exod. 8. 19.
4. Lftter 5. 8 : " If there is time to survey the alFairs of
the worlds even to the triumph of Octavian, we shall see that
some of them have completely transcended the heights of
human valor, and that God has worked somewhat through
men, just as through the medium of the new^ heavens."
5. Uv. I. 20. 4; 5. 52. 7.
86 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
describing the incredible violence which Libya
suffers from the south wind, where he says,
" It was thus, surely, that to Numa as he sac-
rificed dropped the shield which the chosen
youth of the patricians bears upon his neck in
solemn march ; south wind or north wind had
robbed the peoples wearing our shields." ^
3. And when the Gauls, having taken the
rest of the city, trusted in the darkness of night
to move stealthily to the Capitol, which alone
stood between them and utter annihilation of
the Roman name, Livy and many other dis-
tinguished chroniclers agree that the guards
were awakened to defend the Capitol from the
approach of the Gauls by the warning cry of a
goose, unseen there previously.^ This was re-
membered by Virgil when he described the shield
of Aeneas in the eighth hook : " On the sum-
mit of the Tarpeian citadel, before the tempie,
6. Lucan, Phar, 9. 477. Lucan, to whom Dante is in-
debted **for a consìderable amount of poetic material of dif-
ferent kinds," and Dante' s relation to him, is discussed by
Moore, StudieSy Voi. i. pp. 228-242. It is strange that
Dante in this place cites as an instance of supernatural inter-
ventìon a story which Lucan explains so rationally.
7. Liv. 5. 47. So in Conv. 4. 5. 4: *< And did not God
put forth His hand when the Gauls, having taken ali Rome,
stole into the Capitol by night, and only the voice of a goose
made it known ? ' '
Ch. IV] DE MONARCHIA 87
Manlius stood guard and held the heights of
the Capito!, vvhile the newly builded palace of
Romulus was rough with thatch. And here a
Silver goose flying through golden portals sang
the presence of the Gauls on the very thresh-
old."«
4. Also Livy tells among the gests of the
Punic Wars that, when the nobility of Rome,
overwhelmed by Hannibal, had sunk to such
depths that nothing remained for the final de-
struction of the Roman power but the sacking
of the city by the Carthaginians, a sudden and
intolerable storm of hail made it impossible for
the victors to follow up their triumph.^
5. Was not the flight of Cloelia a miracle?
A woman, and captive during the siege of Por-
senna, by the wonderful aid of God she rent
her fetters asunder and swam the Tiber, as al-
most ali historians '° of Rome's affairs remem-
ber to that city's glory. Truly it behooved Him
so to do, who through eternity foresees ali
things in the beauty of order." Invisible He
8. Aen. 8. 652-656.
9. Liv. 26. Il; Oros. 4. 17.
10. Liv. 2. 13; Oros. 2. 5; Aurei. Victor, De Viris Il-
lusi, e. 13.
11. Par, 8. 97: "The Good which sets in revolution
and contents ali the realm which thou art scaling, makes its
foresight to be virtue in these great bodies.**
88 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
wrought wonders in behalf of things seen, in
order that when He should be made visible He
might do likewise in behalf of things unseen."
CHAPTER V
The Roman people in subduing the world had in view
the good of the state and therefore the end of Right.
I. Whoever contemplates the good of the
state contemplates the end of Right, as may be
explained thus. Right ' is a real and personal
relation of man to man, which maintained pre-
serves society, and infringed upon destroys it.^
That account in the Digests ^ does not teach
12. That is, before the birth of Christ the invisible God
worked for the visible things of the world. Later, Christ, the
visible God, worked for the invisible things of heaven. Cf. the
argument at the end of De Mon. 2. 2.
1. **Jus" is not adequately translated by ** right," for
Dante makes the word include what we mean by justice, law,
and at times duty.
2. Eth. 5. 6 concerns itself with politicai justice or right,
the justice which should be practiced by men in society
toward one another.
3 . The Digests of the Roman law were originally drawn up
by Justinian. The *' descriptio " or account spoken of here
is mentioned in Conv. 4. 9. 3: **It was written at the be-
ginning of the old Digests y ' The written law is the art of
goodness and equity.* " The reference may be found in the
Ch. v] DE MONARCHIA 89
what the essence of Right is ; it simply describes
Right in terms of practice. If our definition
truly comprehends what Right is and wherefore, ^
and if the enid_o fall society is the common good r
of the individuals associated, then the end of
ali Right must be the common good, and no
Right is possible which does not contemplate
the common good. Tully justly notes in the
first book of the Rhetoric that " The laws should ,J^ -
always be interpreted for the good of the state."* ^/
For if the laws are not directed for the benefit
of those under the laws, they are laws merely
in name, they cannot be laws in reality. Law
ought to bind men together for general advan-
tage. Wherefore Seneca ^ says truly in bis book
on the Four Virtues^ " Law is the bond of hu-
man society." So it is clear that whoever con-
templates the good of the state contemplates
J^ig' àe Justitìa et Jure i. i : ** Jus est a justitia appellatum:
nam ut eleganter Celsus definit, jus est ars boni et aequi.'*
4. De Inverti, i. 38. 68.
5 . Seneca is not the author of De Quatuor Firtutibus, but
Martin, abbot of Dumiens and Bishop of Braga, who wrote
in the latter part of the sixth century two works. De Remediis
Fortuitorum and Formula Honestae Vitae sive Quatuor VirtU'
tibus Cardinalibus. In the latter book, e. 4, is the reference:
** Justitia non nostra constitutio sed divina lex est, et vinculum
societatis humanae." Cf. Conv. 3. 8. 5, where ** the book
of the Four Cardinal Virtues ' ' is again used as authority.
90 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. h
the end of Right. If, therefore, the Romans
had in view the good of the state, the assertion
is true that they had in view the end of Right.
1. That in subduing the world the Roman
people had in view the aforesaid good, their
deeds declare. We behold them as a nation
holy, pious, and full of glory, putting aside ali
avance/ which is ever adverse to the general
welfare, cherishing universal peace and liberty,
and disregarding private profit to guard the pub-
lic weal of humanityi Rightly was it written,
then, that " The Roman Empire takes its rise
in the fountain of pity." ^
3. But inasmuch as external signs alone mani-
fest to others the intention of ali agents of free
choice, and inasmuch as statements must be
investigated according to the subject-matter,
as we have said before, we shall bave evidence
enough on the present point if we bring forth
indubitable proofs of the intention of the Roman
6. See note 12 of De Mon. i. 11.
7. The same sentiment is found in Letter ^. 3: '* He is
Caesar, and his majesty flows from the font of pity." The
source of this quotation has recently been ascertained by
Toynbee to be the Legend of St. Sylvester in the Legenda
Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine (Archbishop of Genoa, 1292-
1298). See Toynbee, Studies^ p. 297. Dr. Albert S. Cook
suggests comparison with the Dies Irae of Thomas of Celano,
1. 24 : <* Salva mìe, fons pìetatis."
Ch. v] DE MONARCHIA 91
people both in corporate assemblies and in in-
dividuai persons.
4. Concerning corporate assemblies, in which
individuai seem in a measure bound to the
state, the solitary authority of Cicero in the sec-
ond book of Moral Duties is sufficient. " So
long," he says, "as the dominion of the Repub-
lic was upheld by benefits, not by injuries, war
was waged in behalf eitherof allies or dominion,
for a conclusion either beneficent or necessary.
The Senate was a harbor of refuge for kings,
peoples, and nations. Our magistrates and gen-
erals strove for praise in defending with equity
and fìdelity the provinces and the allies ; so this
government might rather bave been called a
defense than a dominion of the whole world."^
So wrote Cicero.
5. Of individuai persons I shall speak briefly.
Can we say they were not intent on the com-
mon weal who in sweat, in poverty, in exile, in
deprivation of children, in loss of limbs, and
even in the sacrifìce of their lives, strove to
augment the public good ?
8. De Off. 2. 8. 26, 27. From this work of Cicero*s
Dante quotes again in the last paragraph of this chapter and in
De Mon. 2. 8. 7; 2. io. 2. It is to the same book Dante
owes the idea of sins of violence and sins of fraud as distin-
guished Inf. 11. 22—60. For an account of Dante* s obliga-
tion to Cicero, see Moore, Studies, Voi. i. pp. 258-273.
92 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
6. Did not the renowned Cincinnatus leave
to US a sacred example, when he freely chose
the time to lay aside that dignity which, as Livy
says, took him from the plough to make him
dictator ? ^ After his victory, after his triumph,
he gave back to the consuls the imperiai scep-
tre, and voluntarily returned to toil at the plough
handle behind his oxen. Cicero, disputing with
Epicurus in his volume of the Chief Good, re-
membered and lauded this excellent action, say-
ing, " And thus our ancestors took great Cin-
cinnatus from the plough that he might become
dictator." ^°
7. Did not Fabricius " give us a lofty example
9. Liv. 3. 26, 29; Oros. 2. 12. 8. In Conv. 4. 5. 4
the examples of Roman nobility are almost exactly the same
as here, though cited in a difFerent order. Moore calls atten-
tìon to the similarity of this account, and that of Conv. 4. 5.
4, with Augustine' s De Civ. Dei 5. 18. See also Par. 6.
46 for the names of illustrious Romans cited by Justinian as
names worthy of being remembered.
10. De Fin. 2. 4. 12. This Ciceronian work Dante al-
ways calls De Fine Bonorum. The philosophy of Epicurus is
considered by Dante, Conv. 4. 6. 6.
Inf. IO. 14: "In this part ha ve their burial place with
Epicurus ali his follo wers, who make the soul dead with the
body.''
11. For Fabricius see De Mon. 2. 12, and Purg. 20. 25:
" O good Fabricius, thou wouldst rather virtue with poverty
than to possess great riches with crime."
Ch. V] DE MONARCHIA 93
of withstanding avance, when, in the fidelity
which held him to the Republic, though living
in poverty he scorned with fitting words the
great mass of proffered gold, repudìated, and
refused it ? Our poet has made the memory of
this deed sure by singing in the sixth hook of
" Fabricius powerful in penury." "
8. Was not the example of Camillus memo-
rable, valuing as he did laws above individuai
profit ? According to Livy, while condemned
to exile he liberated his harassed fatherland,
restored to Rome what the Romans had been
despoiled of in war,'^ and left the sacred city,
though called back by the whole people ; nor
did he return thither until, by the authority of
the senate, was sent to him his permit of re-
patriation.''* And the poet commends this large-
souled man in the sixth hook, where he calls him
" Camillus, the restorer of our ensigns." '^
9. And did not Brutus first teach that the
love of sons and of ali others should be subor-
dinated to the love of national liberty ? When
he was consul, Livy says, he delivered up to
death his own sons for conspiring with the
12. Aen. 6. 844.
13. That \&, what the Gauls had taken fì-om them.
14. Liv. 5. 32 and 43.
15. Aen, 6. 825.
94 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
enemy.'^ In the sixth hook our Poet revives
the glory of this hero : " In behalf of beauteous
liberty shall the father doom to death his own
sons instigating new wars." '^
10. Has not Mucius persuaded us that ali
things should be ventured for one's country ?
He surprised the incautious Porsenna, but at
the last his own hand, which had failed of its
task, he watched as it burned, with a counte-
nance one might wear who gazed upon an en-
emy in torture. To this Livy also bears testi-
mony, marveling.'^
11. Now we name those most sacred martyrs
of the Decii, who dedicated their lives an offer-
ing for the public good, as Livy recounts, ex-
tolling them to the extent not of their worth
but of his power. '9 And next that inefFable sac-
rifice of Marcus Cato, the most austere defender
i6. Liv. 2. 5; Oros. 2. 5; Valerius Maximus, Memorab,
5. 8. I ; Aurei. Victor, De Viris Illusi . e. io. Brutus is
referred to as the man who in Conv, 4. 5. 4 **condemned
his own son to death for love of the public welfare. ' *
17. Aen. 6. 820.
18. Liv. 2. 12; Val. Max. 5. 12. Mucius has mention,
Conv, 4. 5. 4, and Par. 4. 84: "Mucius stern to his own
hand; ... so stout a will is too rare."
19. Liv. 8. 9; IO. 28, 29; Val. Max. 1.3; 5. 6; Aurei.
Victor 26, 27. These men have a place, Conv. 4. 5.4, and
Par. 6. 47: **Decii and Fabii had the fame which I with
good- will embalm."
Ch. v] DE MONARCHIA 95
of true liberty." Because of their country's
safety the darkness of death had no terror for
the former two. The latter proved what liberty
meant to him, when, in order that the love of
freedom might blaze up in the world, he chose
rather to depart from this life a free man than
without freedom to abide therein. The lustre
of ali these names shines renewed in the words
of Cicero in his writings of the chief Good.
Here Tully says of the Decii: "When Pub-
lius Decius, chief of his house, a consul, de-
voted himself to liberty and charged at full
speed into the Roman ranks, thought he at ali
of his own pleasure, when he should take it, and
where ? Or when, knowing he must die forth-
with, he sought his death more ardently than
Epicurus believed men should seek pleasure ?
Had his action not been justly lauded, his son
20. Cato of Urica, great-grandson of Cato the Censor.
Dante* s reverence for this man found expression in many
ways. He is made guardian of the gate of Purgatory, and
type of the soul liberated from sin by annihilation of the body.
See Purg. i and 2. In Purg. i. 73 Virgil recommends
Dante to Cato thus: ** He gocs seeking freedom, which is so
dear, as he knows who for it renounces life.'*
Conv. 4. 5. 4: "O most sacred heart of Cato, who will
presume to speak of thee ? Certainly nothing greater than
silence can be said of thee." See also Conv. 3. 5. 8; 4. 6.
5; 4. 27. 2; 4. 28. 2.
96 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
would not in his fourth consulship have fol-
lowed his example ; nor afterwards his son^s son
waging war against Pyrrhus''' have fallen in
that battle, a consul, ofFering himself to the
Republic the third sacrifice in uninterrupted
succession." " And in the Moral Duties he
said of Cato: " The cause of Marcus Cato was
one with those who in Africa surrendered them-
selves to Caesar ; and perchance with them it
had been judged a crime had they taken their
own lives, seeing that life was a lighter thing to
them, and rules of conduct easier. But Cato,
who had been endowed by nature with incredi-
ble seriousness, who strengthened this with
unremitting constancy, and who persevered
to the end in any resolution made or purpose
undertaken, such a one must rather meet death
than look upon the face of a tyrant." ^^
"GHAPTER VI
He who purposes Righi proceeds accordìng to Righi.
I. We have then demonstrated two things :
one, that whoever purposes the good of the
21. Pyrrhus is mentioned Par. 6. 44, etc. Cf. De Mon.
2. IO. 5.
22. De Fin. 2. 19. 61.
23. De Off. I. 31. 112.
Ch. vi] de monarchia 97
commonwealth purposes the end of Right ;
the other, that the Roman people in subduing
the world purposed the pubHc good. We may
now further our argument in this wise : Who-
ever has in view the end of Right proceeds
according to Right ; the Roman people in
subjecting the world to itself had in view the
end of Right, as we plainly proved in the chap-
ter above ; ' therefore the Roman people in
subjecting the world to itself acted with Right,
and consequently appropriated with Right the
dignity of Empire.
2. That this conclusion may be reached by
ali manifest premises, it must be reached by
the one that affirms that whoever purposes the
end of Right proceeds according to Right. For
clearness in this matter, notice that everything
exists because of some end, otherwise it would
be useless, which we bave said before is not
possible.* And just as every object exists for
ita proper end, so every end has its proper
object whereof it is the end. Hence it cannot
be that any two objects, in as far as they are
two, each expressing its individuality, should
bave in view the same end, for the same unten-
able conclusion would follow that one or the
1. See chapter 5.
2. De Moti. I. 3, note 3.
98 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
other exists in vain. Since, as we have proved,
there is a certain end of Right, to postulate that
end is to postulate the Right, seeing it is the
proper and intrinsic effect of Right. And since,
as is clear by construction and destruction,^ in
any sequence an antecedent is impossible without
its consequent (as " man " without " animai "),
so it is impossible to attain a good condition
of one's members without health ; and so it is
impossible to seek the end of Right without
Right as a means, for each thing has toward its
end the relation of consequent to antecedent.
Wherefore it is very obvious that he who has
in view the end of Right must proceed by the
right means. Nor is that objection valid which
is generally drawn from the Philosopher's words
concerning " good counsel." He says indeed,
" There is a kind of false syllogism in which
a true conclusion may be drawn by means of
a false middle." ^ Now if a true conclusion is
sometimes reached through false premises, it is
by accident, because the true conclusion is con-
3 . * * Construendo et destruendo. ' ' The first of these logicai
terms designates a refiitation which proceeds from the ante-
cedent to the consequent; the second, one that proceeds from
the consequent to the antecedent.
4. Eth. 6. 9. 5. For **good counseP* Dante uses the
word **eubalia," i. e. ev/SovXta.
Ch. vi] de monarchia 99
veyed in the words of the inference. Of itself
the true never follows from the false, though
symbols of truth may follow from symbols of
falsehood.5 And so it is in actions. Sh'ould a
thief aid a poor man with stolen goods, he yet
could not be said to be giving alms ; rather is
his action one which would bave the form ^ of
alms had it been performed with the man's own
substance. Likewise with the end of Right.
For if anything calling itself the end of Right
be reached other than by means of Right, it
would be the end of Right, that is, the com-
mon good, only as the offering made from ill-
gotten gains is an alms. Since in this propo-
sition we are considering the existent, not the
apparent ends of Right, the objection is in-
valid. The point we are seeking is therefore
established.
5. *< Signa tamen veri bene sequuntur ex signis, quae sunt
signa falsi.'* ** Signa" I take to mean ** words; " Dante
would say that words may be ambiguous, but not the ideas
that they stand for.
6. No line in the De Mon. shows better the change in
usage that has been undergone by this word "form,*' and
how, from meaning the vitalizing, internai principle of a thing,
it has come to be the symbol of externality.
Conv. 4. 27. 7 makes use of the thief again for demonstra-
tivc purposes.
^^'*' S* 33* ** Thou art desiring to make a good work of
a bad gain.*'
loo DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
CHAPTER vi/
The Roman people were ordaìned for Empire hy nature.
I. What nature has ordained comes to pass
by Right, for nature in her providence is not
inferior to man in his ; if she were, the efFect
would exceed the cause in goodness/ which
cannot be. Now we know that in instituting
corporate assemblies, not only is the relation of
members among themselves taken into account,
but also their capacities for exercising office.
This is a consideration of the limit of Right in
a public body or order, seeing that Right does
not extend beyond the possible. Nature, then,
in her ordinances does not fail of this provision,
but clearly ordains things with reference to their
capacities, and this reference is the foundation
of Right on which things are based by nature/
1. Conv, 2. 5. 4: "No efFect is greater than its cause;
because the cause cannot give what it does not possess. Whence,
seeing that the Divine Intelligence is the cause of ali things,
and above ali of human intelligence, the human cannot exceed
the Divine.'*
2. Conv. 3. 15. 4: '*The naturai desire of everything is
regulated according to the capacity of the thing desiring; other-
vv^ise it would oppose itself, which is impossible, and nature
would have made it in vain, which is also impossible." Cf.
De Mon. 1.3, notes 2 and 3.
Ch. vii] de monarchia ioi
From this it follows that naturai order in things
cannot come to pass without Right, since the
foundation of Right is inseparably bound to the
foundation of order.^ The preservation of this
order is therefore necessarily Right.
2, The Roman people were by nature or-
dained for Empire, as may be proved in this
wise.* Just as he would fail of perfection in his
art who, intent upon the form alone, had no
care for the means by which to attain to form ;
so would nature if, intent upon the single uni-
versal form of the Divine similitude,^ she were
to neglect the means thereto. But nature, being
the work of the Divine Intelligence, lacks no
element of perfection ; therefore she has in view
ali media to the ultimate realization of her
intent.^
3. As the human race, then, has an end, and
this end is a means necessary to the universal
end of nature, it follows that nature must have
the means in view. Wherefore the Philosopher
3. Par, I. 103: " Ali things whatsoe ver have an order
among themselves; and that is form, which makes the universe
in the likeness of God.** Cf. De Man. i. 6, and notes.
4. See Conv. 4. 4. 4, and 4. 5, ali the chapter.
5. See De Mon. i. 8.
>6. De Mon, 1.3, notes 2 and 3; 2. 7, note 2. Also Par,
8. 97 fF., and Conv. 4. 24. 7: ** Bountiful nature . . . never
fails to provide ali necessary things.'*
I02 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
well demonstrates in the second hook of Nat-
urai Learning that the action of nature is gov-
erned by its end.^ And as nature cannot attain
through one man an end necessitating a mul-
\ tiplicity of actions and a multitude of men in
action, nature must produce many men ordained
for diverse activities.^ To this, beside the higher
influence,^ the virtues and properties of the
lower sphere contribute much. Hence we find
individuai men and whole nations born apt for
*^ government, and others for subjection and ser-
vice, according to the statement of the Philo-
sopher in his writings concerning Politics ; as he
says, it is not only expedient that the latter
should be governed, but it is just, although
they be coerced thereto.'°
7. Phys. 2. 2.
8. Par. 8. 122: " It behooves that divers must be the roots
of the efFects in you; wherefore one is born Xerxes, another
Melchisedec, and another he who flying through the air lost
his son. ... A nature begotten would always make its course
like its begetter, if the divine foresight were not stronger."
9. Conv. 4. 21. 2: *'The soul . . . as soon as produced,
receives from the motive power of heaven its possible intellect,
. which creates potentially in itself ali universal forms as they
exist in its producer.'*
Purg. 30. 109: ** By coòperation of the mighty wheels
which direct every seed to some end according as the stars
accompany.'*
10. Poi I. 5. II.
Ch. vii] de monarchia 103
4. If these things are true, there is no doubt
but that nature set apart in the world a place
and a people for universal sovereignty ; " other-
wise she would be deficient in herself, which is
impossible." What was this place, and who
this people, moreover, is sufficiently obvious in
what has been said above, and in what shall be
added further on. They were Rome and her
citizens or people. On this subject our Poet has
touched very subtly in bis sixth hook, where he
brings forward Anchises prophesying in these
words to Aeneas, father of the Romans: " Verily,
that others shall beat out the breathing bronze
more finely, I grant you ; they shall carve the
living feature in the marble, plead causes with
more eloquence, and trace the movements of the
heavens with a rod, and name the rising stars :
thine, O Roman, be the care to rule the peoplesi (
11. Inf. 2. 20: '* He [Aeneas] was in the empyrean
heaven chosen for father of Rome our parent and of her em-
pire, both which, if one say the truth, were established for
the holy place where sits the successor of the sovereign Peter. ' *
Conv. 4. 5. 2; 4. 5. 5: "A special origin and special
growth, thought out and ordained by God, was that of the
holy city. And certainly I am of the firm opinion that the
stones which form her walls are worthy of reverence ; and
the ground on which she stands is worthy beyond ali that has
been preached and proved by men.'*
12. Note 6 above.
'?..
I04 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
with authority ; be thy arts these, to teach men
the way of peace, to show mercy to the subject,
and to overcome the proud." '^ And the dispo-
sition of place he touches upon lightly in the
fourth hook, when he introduces Jupiter speak-
ing of Aeneas to Mercury in this fashion :
" Not such a one did his most beautiful mother
promise to us, nor for this twice rescue him
from Grecian arms; rather was he to be the
man to govern Italy teeming with empire and
tumultuous with war." '^ Proof enough has
been given that the Romans were by nature or-
dained for sovereignty. Therefore the Roman
people, in subjecting to itself the world, attained
the Empire by Right.
CHAPTER vii;'
The decree of God show ed that Empire helonged to the
Roman people.
I. For hunting down adequately the truth of
our inquiry, it is essential to know that Divine
judgment in human affairs is sometimes mani-
^ , fest to men, and sometimes hidden. And it may
\Ì be manifested in two ways, namely, by reason
13. Aen. 6. 847 fF.
14. Aen. 4. 227 fF.
Ch. vili] DE MONARCHIA 105
and by faith.' To certain of the judgments of
God human reason can climb on its own feet, as
to this one, that a man should endanger himself
for his country's safety. For if a part should
endanger itself for the safety of the whole,
man, being a part of the state according to the
Philosopher in his Politics^ ought to endanger
himself for the sake of his fatherland, as a less
good for a better.^ Hence the Philosopher to
Nicomachus: ** To act in behalf of one alone
is admirable ; but it is better and more nearly
divine to act in behalf of nation and state." ^
And this is the judgment of God ; in any other
case human reason in its rectitude would not
follow the intention of nature, which is impos-
sible.
1. But to certain of the judgments of God, to
1 . Dante in various places dwells on the two means of
knowledge given to man. Conv. 4. 9 concerns itself with the
fiinctions of reason. In Par. 24 St. Peter questions Dante
as to the nature of faith, of its matter, and he calls it ** This
precious jewel whereon every virtue is founded.'* In one
aspect the Divine Comedy may be interpreted as the picture
of a man climbing by the help of reason and faith to a sight
and knowledge of God. Reason and faith; Virgil and Beatrice;
philosophy and theology. Cf. De Mon. 3. 16. 5.
2. Poi. I. 2. 14.
3. Eth, I. 2. 8: "To discover the good of an individuai
is satisfactory, but to discover that of a state or a nation is more
noble and divine.**
io6 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
which human reason cannot climb on its own
/ feet, it may be lifted by the aid of faith in those
things which are related to us in the Holy Scrip-
tures. Such is this one, that no man without
faith can be saved, though he had never heard
of Christ, and yet was perfect in moral and
intellectual virtues, both in thought and act/
While human reason by itself cannot recognize
this as just, aided by faith it can do so. It is
written to the Hebrews : " Without faith it is
impossible to please God."^ And in Leviticus :
" What man soever there be of the house of
Israel that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat in
the camp, or out of the camp, and bringeth
it not to the door of the tabernacle, an offer-
ing unto the Lord, blood shall be imputed to
that man."^ The door of the tabernacle is a
figure for Christ, who is the entrance-way to the
4. Par. 4. 67: "That our justice should appear unjust in
the eyes of mortals is argument of faith, and pertains not to
heretic pravity.'*
Par. 19. 70: *< A man is born on the banks of the Indus,
and none is there to talk of Christ, nor to read, nor to write;
and ali his volitions and acts are good, so far as human reason
sees, without sin in life or in converse. He dies unbaptized
and without fault; where is this justice which condemns
him?''
5. Heb. II. 6.
6. Lev. 17. 3, 4.
Ch. vHi] DE MONARCHIA 107
eternai mansìons/ as can be learned from the
Gospel ; the slaying of animals is a figure for
human deeds.^
3. Now that judgment of God is hidden to
which human reason cannot attain either by laws
of nature or scripture, but to which it may some-
times attain by special grace. This grace is gained
in various ways, at times by simple revelation,
at times by revelation through the medium of
judicial award. Simple revelation comes to pass
in two ways, either as the spontaneous act of
God, or as an answer to prayer. The spontane-
ous act of God may be expressed directly or by
a sign. It was expressed directly, for instance,
in the judgment against Saul revealed to Sam-
uel ; ^ it was expressed by signs in the revela-
tion to Pharaoh of God's will concerning the
liberation of the children of Israel/° It came
as an answer to prayer, as he knew who said in
7. John IO. 7, 9: "I am the door of the sheep.*'
8. Witte quotes from Isidore: ** With a moral significance,
we sacrifice a calf, when we overcome pride of the flesh; a
lamb, when we correct irrational impulses; a kid, when we
conquer lust; a dove, when we preserve purity of morals;
unleavened bread, < when we keep the feast, not in the leaven
of malice, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth/ "
9. I Sam, 15. IO, II.
10. Exod. 7. 9.
io8 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
Second Chronicles : " When we know not what
we ought to doj this alone we have left, to raise
our eyes to thee." "
4. Revelation through the medium of judicial
award may be first by lot, and secondly by con-
test [certamen), Indeed, " to contend " (<:^r/^r^)
is derived from " to make certain '' {certumfacere),
That the judgment of God is revealed sometimes
by lot is obvious from the substitution of Mat-
thias in the Acts of the Apostles.^""
5. And the judgment of God is made known
by contests of two sorts — either the trial of
strength between champions in duels/^ or the
struggle of many to come first to a mark, as in
contests run by athletes for a prize. The first
of these modes was represented among the
Gentiles in the strife of Hercules and Antaeus,
which Lucan recalls in the fourth hook of the
Pharsalia,^^ and Ovid in the ninth of the
Metamorphoses.^^ The second was represented
11. 2 Chron. 20. 12 (Vulg.).
12. Acts I. 23-26.
13. The word '< duellum '* is translated by Wicksteedas
"ordeal/' and by Church as "duel." To prevent misim-
derstanding, I have thought best to translate the word by
'«single combat," or "combat man to man," in almost
every case.
14. Lucan, Phar. 4. 609 fF.
1 5 . Ovid, Met. 9. 183. The Metamorphoses are generally
Ch. vili] DE MONARCHIA 109
among them by Atalanta and Hippomenes, in
the tenth hook of the Metamorphoses,^^
6. Likewise, the fact must not be disregarded
that in the former of these two sorts of contests
the combatants — for instance, champions in a
duel — may impede each other without injustice,
but in the latter they may not. Indeed, athletes
must put no impediment in one another's way,
although our poet seems to think otherwise in
his fìfth hook, when he causes Euryalus to be
rewarded.'^ TuUy, following the opinion of
Chrysippus, does better to forbid this in the
third hook of Mora! Dulies, where he says:
" Chrysippus, wise in this as in most matters,
declares that ' Whoever runs a race should en-
deavor with most strenuous efFort to come off
Victor, but in no way should he trip up the one
with whom he contends/"'^
7. From the distinction drawn in this chap-
ter we may grant two effective modes by which /
the hidden decree of God is revealed : one, a
contest of athletes ; the other, a contest of cham-
pions. Both of these modes I will discuss in the
chapter immediately following.
called by Dante as hcre, ^e Rerum Transmutatione. For Ovidian
references in Dante see Moore, StudieSyYoX. i. pp. 206-228.
16. Met. IO. 560.
17. Aen. 5. 335 ff.
18. De Off. 3. IO. 42.
no DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
CHAPTER yL
The Romans were victorious over ali contestants for
Empire.
I. That people, then, which was victorious
over ali the contestants for Empire gained its
victory by the decree of God. For as it is of
deeper concern to God to adjust a universa!
contention than a particular one, and as even
in particular contentions the decree of God is
sought by the contestants, according to the fa-
miliar proverb, " To him whom God grants
aught, let Peter give bis blessing," ' therefore
undoubtedly among the contestants for the
Empire of the world, victory ensued from
a decree of God. That among the rivals for
world-Empire the Roman people came off
Victor will be clear if we consider the contest-
ants and the prize or goal toward which they
strove. This prize or goal was sovereign power
over ali mortals, or what we mean by Empire.^,
This was attained by none save by the Roman
people, not only the first but the sole contestant
1 . ** The saying expresses the Ghibelline view of the rela-
tion of the Empire to the Pope; it may have originateci with
the coronation of Charles the Great." Church.
2. De Mon. i. 2. i.
CH.nc] DE MONARCHIA in
to reach the goal contended for, as will be at
once explained.
a. The first man to pant after the prize was
Ninus, king of the Assyrians, who, as Oro-
sius records,^ together with his consort Semì-
ramis, through more than ninety years gave
battle for world-supremacy, and subdued ali
Asia to himself ; nevertheless, the western por-
tion of the earth never became subject to him or
his queen. Both of these Ovid commemorates
in his fourth hook in the story of Pyramus :
" Semiramis * girded the city with walls of
burnt brick ; " and below : " They are to meet
at the tomb of Ninus, and hide beneath its
shadow." 5
3. Vesoges, king of Egypt, was the second
to strain after this prize, but though he harassed
the South and North of Asia, as Orosius nar-
rates, he never achieved the first part of the
world.^ Nay, between umpires ^ and goal, as it
3. Oros. Hist. 1.4. 1,4.
4. Inf. 5. 58: " She is Semiramis, of whom we read that
she succeeded to Ninus and was his wife. She held the land
which the Sultan rules.**
5. Met. 4. 58, 88.
6. Oros. Hist. I. 14. 1—3.
7. ** Athlothetas '* were the judges or umpires in the Greek
games, whose seats were opposite to the goal at the side of
the stadium. See Smith* s Dict. of Antiquities. Aristotle in
112 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
were, he was turned back from his rash under-
taking by the Scythians.^
4. Next Cyrus, king of the Persians, under-
took the same thing, but after destroying Baby-
lon and transferring Babylonian sovereignty to
the Persians, before he had tested his strength
in western regions, he laid down his life and
ambition at once before Tomyris, queen of the
Scythians.
5. Then after these Xerxes,^ son of Darius
and king among the Persians, invaded the
world with so vast and mighty a multitude of
nations that he spanned with a bridge between
Sestos and Abydos that passage of the sea sep-
arating Asia from Europe. This astonishing
work Lucan extols thus in the second hook
of the Phar salia : " Such roads, fame sings, did
haughty Xerxes build across the seas." But at
last miserably repulsed from his enterprise, he
failed to reach his goal.'°
6. Beside these and in later times, Alexan-
the EthicSf l. 4. 5, says: ** Plato also proposes doubt . . .
whether the right way is from prìnciples or to principles; just
as in the course from the starting-post to the goal, or the
contrary."
8. De Mon. i. 14. 2; 2. 9. 4; 3. 3. i.
9. Purg. 28. 7 1 : ** Hellespont, there where Xerxes passed,
a bridle stili to ali pride of men. ' *
10. Phar. 2. 672.
Ch. IX] DE MONARCHIA 113
der," the Macedonian king, carne nearest of ali
to the palm of Monarchy, through ambassadors
forewarning the Romans to surrender. But,
as Livy recounts, before their answer carne, he
fell as in the midst of a course in Egypt." Of
his tomb there Lucan renders testimony in the
eighth book, in an invective agaìnst Ptolemy,
king of Egypt: "Thou last ofFspring of the
Lagaean line, swiftly to perish in thy degeneracy
and yield the sceptre to thy incestuous sister,
1 1 . Dante puts Alexander among the tyrants and murder-
crs in the river Phlegethon, Inf. 12. 107. In Inf. 14. 31
the flakes of fire fall ** As Alexander, in those hot parts of
India, savv falling upon his host flames unbroken even to the
ground." In Conv. 4. ii. 7 Dante seems to esteem him
highly, at least in one regard: **And who has not Alexander
stili at heart, because of his royal beneficence ? ' *
12. This reference to Livy is an error on Dante* s part,
for the Roman historian nowhere recounts this story of the
ambassadors or of the conqueror*s death. Livy says (9. 18.
3) of Alexander and the Romans: ** Quem ne fama quidem
illis notum arbitror fùisse.'* Toynbee solved the problem of
the origin of the ambassador story by tracing it to the Chronicle
of Bishop Otto of Freising. See Toynbee, StudieSy pp. 290 fF.
Of Dante's belief concerning the place of Alexander's death
Moore says: "This error probably arose from the confusion
of Babylon in Assyria with Babylon (i. e. old Cairo) in
Egypt. As Dante probably knew ( i ) that Alexander died at
Babylon, and (2) that he w^as buried (according to Lucan)
in Egypt, he might naturally have inferred that his death
occurred at the Egyptian Babylon."
114 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
while for thee the Macedonian is guarded in the
sacred cave." '^
7. " O the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God," ''* who will not
pause in amazement before thee ? For thou,
when Alexander strove to entangle the feet of
his Roman rivai in the course, didst snatch him
from the contest, lest his rashness wax more
great.
' 8. But that Rome gained the palm of so
magnificent a prize is confirmed by many wit-
nessings. Our Poet says in his first hook:
"Verily, with the passingofthe years shall one
day come from hence the Romans, rulers sprung
of the blood of Teucer called again to life,
who shall hold the sea and land in undivided
sovereignty." '^ And Lucan in his first hook:
" The kingdom is apportioned by the sword,
and the fortune of the mighty nation that is
master over sea, over land, and over ali the
globe, sufFers not two in command.'* '^ And
Boethius in his second hook speaks thus of the
Prince of the Romans : " Nay, he was ruler of
13. Phar. 8. 692.
14. Rom. II. 33. This verse is again quoted Conv. 4.
21. 3.
15. Aen. I. 234.
16. Phar. I. 109, III.
Ch. IX] DE MONARCHIA 115
the peoples whom the sun looks on from the
time he rises in the east until he hides his rays
beneath the waves, and those whom the chill-
ing northern wain o'errules, and those whom
the southern gale burns with its dry blasts, as
it beats the burning sands." '^ And Luke, the
scribe of Christ, who speaketh ali things true,
ofFers the same testimony in the part of his writ-
ings which says, " There went out a decree from -
Caesar Augustus that ali the world should be , ,»
taxed." '^ From these words we can clearly see .
that the jurisdiction of the Romans embraced |
the whole world.
9. It is proved by ali these facts that the
Romans were victorious among the contestants -
for world-Empire ; therefore they were vieto- r"
rious by divine decree ; and consequently they
gained the Empire by divine decree, that is,
they gained it with Right.
17. De Censo/, Phil. 2, Metr. 6. 8-13 (Tempie Classìcs
trans.).
1 8. Luke 2.1. This reference b used in the letter to King
Henry, Letter y, 3; Conv, 4. 5; De Mon. 2. 12. 5.
ii6 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
CHAPTER X
That whtch is acquired by single combat is acquìred with
Righi,
1. Whatever is acquired by single combat is
acquired with Right. For when human judg-
ment fails, either because it is wrapped in the
darkness of ignorance or because it has not
the aid of a judge, then, lest judgment should
remain forsaken, recourse must be had to
Him who so loved her that, by the shedding
of His own blood. He met her full demands
in death. Hence the Psalm : "The righteous
Lord loveth righteousness." "* This end is ac-
complished when, with the free consent of the
participants, in love and not in hatred of jus-
tice, the judgment of God is sought through
a mutuai trial of bodily and spiritual strength.
Because it was first used in single combat of
man to man, this trial of strength we cali the
duel.
2. But always in quarrels threatening to be-
come matters of war, every effort should be
made to settle the dispute through conference,
and only as a last resort through battle. Tully
and Vegetius both advance this opinion, the
I. Ps. II. 7 (Vulg. IO. 8).
Ch. X] DE MONARCHIA 117
former in Moral Duties^ and the latter in his
hook on The Art of War? And as in medi-
cai treatment everything is tried before final
recourse is had to the knife or fire, so when we
have exhausted ali other ways of obtaining judg-
ment in a dispute, we may finally turn to this
remedy by single combat, compelled thereto
by the necessity of justice.
3. There are obviously two fixed niles of
single combat, one of which we have just now
spoken, and another of which we made mention
above, that not in hatred, nor in love, but in
pure zeal for justice, the contestants or cham-
pions should enter the field by common consent.
Touching this matter Tully well said : " Wars
engaged in for the crown of Empire should be
waged without bitterness." '*
2. De Off. i. Il, 34.
3. Vegetius, De Re Militari 3. 9. This hook on the Art
of War is a compilation from many sources, dedicated by
its author, of whom nothing is known, to Emperor Valen-
tinian II (375-392). Dante refers to it but this once. This
fact, together with Moore*s discovery that the context does not
bear out the application of the quotation in question, has led
Moore to conclude that Dante knew of Vegetius only through
a mediaeval handbook or Florilegium. See Moore, Studies,
Voi. I. p. 297.
4. De Off. I. 12. 38. Church calls attention to the fact
that Cicero* s word is <* Imperli gloria,** not "corona.**
ii8 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
4. Provided that in single combat these rules
are observed without which single combat ceases
to be, and that men necessitated by justice and
in zeal for justice meet by common consent,
are they not met in the name of God ? And if
they are met in the name of God, is not God in
the midst of them, as He Himself promises
in the Gospel ? ^ And if God is present, is it
not a sin to imagine that Justice^ can fail —
Justice, which we bave shown He so greatly
loved ? And if Justice cannot fail in single com-
bat, is not that which is acquired by single
combat acquired by Right ?
5. Even before the trumpet-call of the Gospel,
the Gentiles recognized this truth, and sought
judgment in the fortune of single combat. Pyr-
rhus, noble in the virtues as well as in the blood
of the Aeacidae, answered nobly the legates of
the Romans sent to him for redeeming their
captives : " I demand no gold, nor shall you
render me a price ; we are not barterers in war,
but fighters ; with steel, not with gold, let each
decide the issue of life. Whether Hera wills
that you or I shall reign, or whatever fate may
bring, let us determine by prowess. And at
the same time know this : to those whose valor
5. Matt. 18. 20.
6. De Mon. i. 11.
Ch. x] DE MONARCHIA 119
the fortunes of war has preserved, it is my will
to grant liberty. Receive them as a gift." "^ So
Pyrrhus spoke, referring by " Hera" to fortune,
that agency which we more wisely and rightly
name Divine Providence. Let combatants, then, "
forbear to settle disputes for a price, for that
would not be a single combat, but a game of
blood and injustice ; nor would God then be
present as arbiter, but rather that ancient enemy
who had been persuader to the quarrel. And
let those who desire to be champions, and
not hucksters of blood and injustice, bave ever
before their eyes in entering the field that Pyr-
rhus who in fìghting for Empire, as we bave
said, held gold in such contempt.
6. If to contradict the truth thus manifested, )
the usuai objection be raised concerning thel
inequality of men's strength, it may be refuted \
by the instance of David's victory over Goliath.* |
And if the Gentiles seek another instance, they
may refute it by the victory of Hercules over
Antaeus.^ It is the height of folly, indeed, to
7. These lines are from Ennius, quoted De Off. i. 12. 38.
8. I Sam. 17. In Letter 7. 6 Dante addresses Henry
as a second David come to overthrow a new Goliath.
9. Hercules and Antaeus, used as an example in De Moti.
2. 8. 5. In Inf. 31. 132: **The hands whence Hercules
once felt a mìghty constraint." The story of the combat is
told in detail in Conv. 3. 3. 7.
I20 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
fear that the strength which God confers may be
weaker than that of a human antagonist.
7. By this time it is demonstrated clearly
enough that whatever is acquired by single com-
bat is acquired with Right and Justice.
CHAPTER XI
The single combat s of the Roman people.
1. That the Roman people acquired Empire
by single combat is confirmed by witnesses wor-
thy of belief. In citing witnesses, not only shall
we prove this, but we shall show that, from the
founding of the Roman Empire, the decision
of ali questions whatsoever was reached through
contests of man to man.
2. At the very outset, when contention arose
in regard to the colonization of Italy by father
Aeneas, who was first parent of the Roman peo-
ple, and Turnus, king of the Rutilians, stood
out against him ; finally, as is sung in the last
hook of the Aeneid^ both kings agreed to seek
the good pleasure of God in a combat singly
between themselves.' The closing verses of
our Poet testify how great was the clemency of
Aeneas, victor in the contest, and how as van-
I. Aen. 12. 942.
Ch. XI] DE MONARCHIA 121
quisher he wouid have bestowed life and peace
at one time on the vanquìshed, had he not
espied on Turnus the belt stripped by him from
Pallas slain.*
3. And when two peoples, the Romans and
Albanians, had grown up in Italy from the same
Trojan root, and when they had long striven for
the ensign of the eagle, the household gods of
the Trojans, and the honor of supreme com-
mand, at length with mutuai consent they de-
termined the question by a combat between the
three Horatian and the three Curiatian brethren,
in the view of the kings and people waiting
anxiously on either side. The three champions
of the Albanians and two of the Romans fell, and
the victory went to the Romans, in the reign
of Hostilius. And to this, which Livy narrates
in detail in his first book,^ Orosius also bears
witness/
4. Livy tells that they then strove for Em-
pire with their neighbors, Sabines and Samnites,
observing every rule of war, and preserving the
characteristics of contests man to man, although
2. jien. 12. 948. Par. 6. 35: "Pallas died to give a
kingdom to the Roman ensign," seeing that his death was the
real cause of Turnus' death.
3. Liv. I. 24, 25.
4. Oros. 2. 4. 9.
122 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
the contestants were a multitude. During the
struggle carried on in this wise with the Sam-
nites, Fortune seemed, as it were, almost to re-
pent of her undertaking. And this Lucan uses
as an example in his second hook, saying: " Or
howmany heaps of slain choked up the Colline
Gate, what time the headship of the world and
authority in earthly things were well-nigh trans-
ferred to other realms, and the Samnites over-
topped the Caudine Forks with Roman dead."^
5. After these troubleswith Italy werequieted,
but the decree of God was not yet certain in
regard to the Greeks and the Phoenicians aspir-
ing to Empire, Fabricius for the Romans and
Pyrrhus for the Greeks contended with a mul-
titude of soldiery for the glory of sovereignty,
and Rome was triumphant. Then Scipio^ for
the Italians and Hannibal for the Africans did
5 . Fhar. 2 . 135-138: * * Romanaque Samnis ultra Caudinas
superavit vulnera furcas.'* Modem editions have "speravit'*
or "spiravit" instead of ** superavit."
6. Par. 27. 61: "The Providence on high, which with
Scipio guarded for Rome the glory of the world."
Par. 6. 49: '*It [the ensign] brought to earth the pride
of the Arabs, who in Hannibal' s train passed the Alpine clifFs.
. . . Under it in their youth triumphed Scipio and Pompey.
. . . Afterward, hard upon the time when the heaven wholly
willed to bring back the world to its tranquil order, Caesar by
the will of Rome bare it."
Ch. xi] DE MONARCHIA 123
battle in the form of single combat, and Africa
succumbed to Italy, as Livy and other writers
of Roman affairs endeavor to show.
6. Who is then so dull of wit he fails to see
that this splendid people gained the crown of a
world-wide realm by right of single combat?
Verily, a Roman might say with the Apostle
addressing Timothy, " There is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness " ^ — that is to say, laid
up in the eternai providence of God. Now let
presumptuous jurists behold how far they stand
beneath that watch-tower of reason whence the
human mind looks out upon these principles,
and let them be silent, content to give counsel
and judgment according to the import of the
law.
7. And now the main proposition of the pre-
sent hook is proved, that the Roman people
attained imperiai power through single combat,
and that therefore they attained it by Right.
8. Thus far the argument has progressed
through reason based chiefly on rational prin-
ciples, but from now on it shall be re-demon-
strated through the principles of Christian faith.^
7. 2 Tim, 4. 8.
8. De Mon. 2. 8. i. For the chapter as a whole read as
its best commentaries Par, 6 (Justinian to Dante) and Conv.
4. 5.
124 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
CHAPTER XII
Christ in being born proved that the authority of the
Roman Empire was just,
I. And especially those who cali themselves
zealots for the Christian faith ' have " raged "
and " imagined vain things '' against Roman
dominion ; they have no pity for the poor of
Christ/ but defraud them in the church reve-
nues, even stealing their patrimony daily, and
render the Church destitute ; * pretending to
1 . Witte points out that these same men are referred to in
Purg. 6. 9 1 : ** Ah, folk that ought to have been at prayer, and
to let Caesar sit in the saddle.'* They are the clergy who
wrongly wish a controlling hand in the world of temporal
things. In this chapter Dante is again making use of the
language of P/. 2. i, and calling attention once more to the
opening argument of Book 2.
2. Conv. 4. 27. 4: *« Those which do belong to your
profession . . . take a tenth part and give it to God, that is,
to those miserable ones to whom Divine favor alone remains."
Par. 12. 93: **Not the tithes w^hich belong to God's
poor. ' '
Par, 22. 82: '* Whatsoever the Church guards belongs
ali to the folk who ask in God's name." Cf. De Mon. 3.
IO. 6.
3. Cupidity in the Church, as in men's minds (^De Mon,
I. II. 5), was the source and root of evil. Inf. i. 49 uses
as the figure of Avarice, or the Church grasping for temporal
Ch. xii] DE MONARCHIA 125
Justice, they yet permit no executor of Justìce
to do his duty.
2. Nor is this impoverishment accomplished
without the judgment of God, for the church
revenues are neither given to relieve the poor
whose patrimony they are, nor are held with
gratitude to the Empire which bestowed them.
Let them return whence they came. They carne
justly, they return unjustly, for though they
were rightly given, they are wrongfully held/
What should be said of such shepherds? What,
if with the depletion of the Church's substance
the estates of relatives wax great ? ^ Belike it
were better to follow out the argument and await
our Saviour's aid in pious silence.
3. I affirm,therefore, that if the Roman Em-
pire did not come to be with Right, Christ in
His birth authorized an injustice. This conse-
domain, a ** shc-wolf, that with ali ravenings looked fraught
in it8 leanness, and has already made much people wretched.*'
4. The donation of Constantine is meant. See De Mon.
3. IO. Par, 20. 56, the eagle speaks of Constantine*s gift
as ** a good intention which bare ili fruit."
5. This was more true of Boniface Vili than of any other
Pope, for he furthered the interests of his family and friends
by ali means in his power. Milman says of him in his Latin
Christianityy Bk. ii, ch. 7: ** Of ali the Roman Pontiffs,
Boniface left the darkest name for craft, arrogance, ambition,
cven for a varice and cruelty."
*i
126 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
I quent is false ; therefore the contradictory of
\ the antecedent is true, sirice contradictory pro-
' positions are of such a nature that the falseness
of a statement argues for the truth of its oppo-
site.^
4. The falsity of this consequent need not
be proved to those of the faith ; for he who is
of the faith will concede its falsity; if he does
not do so, he is not of the faith ; and if he
is not of the faith, this argument concerns him
not.
5. I demonstrate the consequent ^ thus: Who-
ever of his own free will fulfills an edict urges its
justice by so doing; and sincedeeds are more per-
suasive than words, as the Philosopher states in
his last hook to NicomachuSyhe ismore convincing
6. Par. 6. 21: "Ali contradictories are both false and
true." That is, one is false and the other true, for contra-
dictories are pairs of propositions so related to each other that
both cannot be false. Wicksteed fiirther explainsthat **They
are of the form either of * Ali A is B ' and * Some A is not
B,' or * No A is B ' and * Some A is B.' These four terms
were usually arranged at the corners of a square in the logie
books.
Ali A is B No A is B
Some A is B Some A is not B.
The contradictories are at opposite ends of the diameters, the
source of the phrase * diametrically opposed.' '*
7. That is, ** Christ in his birth authorized an injustice.'*
Ch. xii] de monarchia 127
thanif his approbatìon were verbal.^ Now Christ
willed to be born of a Virgin Mother under an
edict of Roman authority, according to the tes-
tini ony of Luke,' his scribe, in order that the
Son of Man, made man, might be numbered as
a man in that unique census. This fulfilled the
edict. It were perhaps more reverent to believe
that the Divine Will caused the edict to go forth j
through Caesar, in order that God might num- |
ber Himself among the society of mortals who \
had so many ages awaited His coming.'°
6. So Christ in His action established as just
the edict of Augustus, exerciser of Roman au-
thority. Since to decree justly presupposes juris-h<^
dictional power, whoever confirms the justice of
an edict confirms also the jurisdictional power
8. £ih. IO. I. 3. Cf. De Mon. i. 13. i. So also
Thomas Aquinas says, " Concerning human actions and pas-
siona words are to be trusted less than deeds."
9. Luke 2. I.
10. Purg. IO. 34: "The angel that came on earth with
the decree of the many years wept-for peace . . . opened
heaven from its long interdict."
Par. 26 contains the computation of time firom the fall to
the redemption. Cf. 1. 118: ** From that place whence thy
Lady moved Virgil, for four thousand three hundred and two
revolutions of the sun did I long for this assembly, and I saw
him return to ali the stars of his road nine hundred and thirty
times whiles that I was upon earth. ' * According to this, Adam
makes the number of years 5232 from creation to crucifixion.
128 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
whence it issued. Did this power not exist by
Right, it would be unjust.
7. And observe that the argument employed
to disprove the consequent, though it holds to
a certain degree, nevertheless, if reduced," shows
its force in the second figure," just as the argu-
ment based on the assumption of the antecedent
shows its force in the first figure. The reduction
is made as followS : Every unjust thing is estab-
lished unjustly ; Christ established nothing un-
justly ; therefore Christ established no unjust
thing. And thus by the assumption of the an-
tecedent : Every unjust thing is established
unjustly ; Christ established an unjust thing ;
therefore Christ established things unjustly.
CHAPTER XIII
Christ in dying confirmed the jurisdiction of the Roman
Empire over ali humanity.
I. And if the Roman Empire did not exist
by Right, the sin of Adam was not punished
in Christ. This, however, is false ; so the con-
tradictory from which it follows is true. The
falsity of the consequent is apparent in this. By
I I . That is, to a syllogism.
12. The second figure has the middle term fbr predicate in
both premises.
Ch. xiii] de monarchia 129
the sin of Adam we are ali sìnners, according to
the Apostle : " As by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
ali men, for that ali have sinned." * If satis-
faction had not been given for this sin through
the death of Christ, we, owing to our depraved
nature, should stili be children of wrath. But
this is not so, for the Apostle speaks in Ephe-
sians of the Father "having predestined us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
I. Rom. 5. 12. In De Mon. i. 16 Dante dates **all our
OTors** from the fall of Adam. In Par. 7 Beatrice ex-
plains to Dante the nature of human redemption. Cf. 1. 85:
** Your nature, when it ali sinned in its seed, was removed
from these dignities as from Paradise ; nor could it recover
them, . . . by any way without passing through some one of
these roads; either that God alone of his clemency should
have put away, or that man should have made satisfaction for
his folly."
Purg. 32. 37. Here in the vision of the Church and the
Empire Dante symbolizes the fall and redemption of man, the
crrors of avarice in the Church, and the universal jurisdiction
of Monarchy. ** I heard ali murmur * Adam,* then they cir-
cled a plant despoiled of flowers and of leafage too on every
branch. Its foliage, which spreads the wider as it is the higher
up, would be wondered at for height by the Indians in their
forcsts. * Blessed art thou, Grifon, that thou tearest not with
thy beale of this wood sweet to the taste, since ili was the belly
griped therefrom.* ** As Plumptre remarks, the apostrophe to
the grifon is the thought developed in the second book of De
Mon.
I30 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. i,
to Himselfj according to the good pleasure of
His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
wherein He hath made us accepted in the be-
lo ved, in whom we have redemption by His
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the
riches of His grace, wherein He has abounded
toward us." ^ And Christ Himself, suffering in
Himself the punishment, says in John^ " It is
finished." ^ And when a thing is finished, no-
thing remains to be done.
2. For greater clearness, let it be understood
that punishment is not simply penalty visited
upon the doer of wrong, but penalty visited
upon the doer of wrong by one having penai
jurisdiction. Wherefore unless punishment is
inflicted by a lawful judge, it is no punishment ;
rather must it be called a wrong. Hence the
man of the Hebrews said to Moses, " Who
made thee a judge over us ? " "^
3. If therefore Christ did not suffer under a
lawful judge,5 his penalty was not punishment.
Lawful judge meant in that case one having
jurisdiction over the entire human race, since
ali humanity was punished in the flesh of Christ,
2. Eph. I. 5-8.
3. The work of redeeming the human race is finished.
John 19. 30.
4. Exod, 2. 14.
5 . * * Sub ordine judice. ' '
Ch. xiii] DE MONARCHIA 131
who, as the Prophet says, " hath borne our
griefs and carrìed our sorrows." ^ And Tiberius
Caesar, whose vicar was Filate, would not bave
possessed jurisdiction over the entire human race
had not the Roman Empire existed by Right.
Herod, albeit as ignorant of what he did as
Caiaphas ^ of what truth he spake concerning
the heavenly decree, for this reason sent Christ
to be judged by Filate, as Luke ^ writes in bis
Gospel. For Herod was not an officiai of Ti-
berius under the ensign of the eagle or the Sen-
ate, but a king appointed by him to a particular
kingdom, and governing it under the ensign of
the kingdom committed to him.^
4. Wherefore let those who pretend they are
sons of the Church cease to defame the Roman
Empire, to which Christ the Bridegroom gave
His sanction both at the beginning and at the
dose of His warfare. And now, I believe, it is
sufficiently obvious that the Roman people ap-
propriated the Empire of the world by Right.
6. Is. 53. 4. Quoted Letter 6. 6.
7. John 18. 14: ** Now Caiaphas was he which gave
counsel to the Jews that it was expedientf that one man should
die for the people."
8. Luke 23. II.
9. Filate was the real Roman regent. Cf. Par. 6. 86,
where Tiberius is called ** the third Caesar," and read ali the
canto for Justinian*s account of the Roman Empire.
132 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. n
5. O people, how blessed hadst thou been,
O Ausonia how glorious, had he who enfeebled
thy sovereignty never been born, or never been
deceived by the piety of his purpose ! '°
IO. That Constantine's purpose was high Dante always
insisted on. See De Man. 2. 12. i; and 3. io and notes.
Par. 20. 58: ** Now knows he how the ili, deduced from his
good work, is not harmfiil to him, albeit that the world be
thereby destroyed.*'
BOOK III
WHETHER THE AUTHORITY OF THE ROMAN
MONARCH DERIVES FROM GOD IMMEDI-
ATELY OR FROM SOME VICAR OF GOD
CHAPTER I
Introduction,
I. " He has shut the lions* mouths and they
have not hurt me ; inasmuch as before Him
righteousness was found in me." * In beginning
this work I proposed to investigate three ques-
tione as far as the subject-matter would allow.
For the first two questions this has been done
satisfactorily in the foregoing books, IJtelieve.
We must now consider the third, the truth of
which may, however, be a cause of indignation
against me, since it cannot be brought forth
without causing certain men to blush. But since
Truth " from her immutable throne demands
it ; and Solomon entering his forest oi Froverbsy
and marking out his own conduct, entreats that
we " meditate upon truth and abhor wicked-
ness ; *' ^ and our teacher of morals, the Philo-
1. Dan. 6. 2 2. The word "righteousness" is the Latin
**justitia,'* which in chapters li, 12, etc, of Book i was
translated "justice.**
2. Note that it was love of truth that started Dante on his
task in De Mon. i . i .
3. Prov. 8. 7. Dante' 8 idea here expressed does not ex-
136 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
sopher, admonishes us to sacrifice whatever is
most precious for truth's sake : ^ therefore, gain-
ing assurance from the words of Daniel, wherein
the power of God is shown as a shield for de-
fenders of truth, and " putting on the breast-
plate of faith " according to the admonition of
Paul,5 in the warmth of that coal taken from
the heavenly aitar by one of the Seraphim and
touched to the lips of Isaiah/ I will engagé in
the present conflict, and by the arm of Him
who with His blood liberateci us from the power
of darkness/ I will cast the ungodly and the
liar from the arena, while the world looks on.
Wherefore should I fear, when the Spirit, co-
eternai with the Father and the Son, says by the
mouth of David, "The righteous shall be in
actly coincide with that in the verse cited, which runs: ** For
my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination
to my lips."
4. Eth. I. 6. i: "For the preservation of truth . . . we
should even do away with private feelings, especially as we are
philosophers; for both being dear to us, it is a sacred duty to
prefer truth.'*
In Letter g, 5, tothe Italian Cardinals, Dante says again:
"I have the authority of the Master Philosopher, who, in
treating of ali morality, taught that truth is to be preferred
beyond any friend whatsoever.**
5. I Thess. 5. 8.
6. //. 6. 6, 7.
7. Col, I. 13, 14.
Ch. n] DE MONARCHIA 137
everlasting remembrance, he shall not be afraid
of evil tidings " ? ^
2. The question pending investigation, then,
concerns two great luminaries,^ the Roman
PontifF and the Roman Prince : and the point
at issue is whether the authority of the Roman
Monarch, who, as proved in the second hook,
is rightful Monarch of the world, derives from
God directly, or from some vicar or minister of
God, by whoqi I mean the successor of Peter,
veritable keeper of the keys of the kingdom of
heaven.
CHAPTER II
God wills not that wh'tch is counter to the intention of
nature,
I. As in the previous questions, so in the
present one, we must assume some principle for
informing the arguments which are to reveal the
truth. For of what avail is it to labor even in
speaking truth, if one have no basic principle ? '
8. Ps, 112.6, y. Much the same idea is in Par. 17. 118;
** If I am a timid friend to the truth, I fear to lose life among
those who will cali this time ancient."
9. De Mon. 3. 4 takes up in detail the argument of the
sun and moon.
I. De Mon. i. 2. 2; 2. 2. i.
138 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
And the principle is the sole root of the assump-
tions/ which are the mediums of proof.
2. Let US set up, then, this indisputable truth,
that whatever is repugnant to the intention of
nature is contrary to the will of God. If this
^ were not true, its contrary would not be false,
that whatever is repugnant to the intention of
nature is not contrary to the will of God. And
if this is not false, its consequences are not false.
For in necessary consequences a false consequent
is impossible without a false antecedent.^
3. But "not contrary to the will of* means
one of two things, " to will " or " not to will ; "
just as " not to hate " means either " to love " or
" not to love ; " for " not to love " does not mean
"to hate," neither does " not to will" mean "to
be contrary to the will of," as is self-evident.
If these statements are not false, neither will it
be false to assert that " God wills what He does
not will," than which no greater fallacy exists.
4. I demonstrate as follows the verity of
what has been said. That God wills an end for
nature is manifest ; otherwise the heavens would
move to no purpose, which it is not possible
to claim.^ If God should will an obstruction
2. ** Assumptions " are the major and minor premises.
3. j^?!a/. Pr. 2. 2.
4. Dante proves this point De Man. i . 3. 2; i . io. i ; 2. 7.
Ch. Il] DE MONARCHIA 139
to this end. He would also will an end for the
obstruction, or He would will to no purpose.
Now the end of an obstruction is that the thing
obstructed may exist no longer, so it follows
that God wills the end of nature to exist no
longer, when we bave already said that He wills
it to exist.
5. But if God did not will the obstruction to
the end, it would follow from His not willing
it that He cared nothing for the obstruction,
whether it existed or not. Now he who cares
nothing for the obstruction cares nothing for
the end obstructed, and therefore has it not in
his will, and what he has not in his will, he does
not will. Hence if the end of nature can be
impeded, and it can, it necessarily follows that
God does not will an end of nature, and follows
further, as before, that God wills what He does
not will. That principle is therefore most true
from the contradictory of which results such an
absurdity.5
2,3; and 3 . 15. i . See also the quotations in the notes to these
paragraphs. Dante expresses the idea most clearly, perhaps,
in Par. i. 109: ** In that order which I say have ali natures
their propension, through divers lots, more or less near to their
origin; whereby they move to divers ports through the sea of
being, and each with instinct given to it to bear it/'
5. Miss Hillard notes the use of proof by reduction to
absurdity, Conv. 2. 9. 4.
I40 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
CHAPTER III
Of the three classes of our opponents and the too great
authorìty many ascribe to traditìon.
I. In entering on this third questiona let us
bear in mind that the truth of the first'' was
made manifest in order to abolish ignorance
rather than contention. But the investigation
of the second ^ had reference ahke to ignorance
and contention. Indeed, we are ignorant of
many things concerning which we do not con-
tend : the geometrician does not know the
square of the circle/ but he does not contend
1. '* Whether the authority of the Roman Monarchy de-
rives from God immediately, or from some vicar of God. * *
2. " Whether temporal Monarchy is necessary for the well-
being of the world."
3 . *< Whether the Roman people rightfully appropriated the
office of Monarchy. ' '
4. Conv. 2. 14. 12: " The cìrcle by reason of its are can-
not be exactly squared."
Par. 33. 133: "Asisthe geometer who applies himself
wholly in order to measure the circle, and finds not by think-
ing that principle whereof he is in want, such was I."
In 1 761 Lambert proved that the ratio of the circumference
of a circle to its diameter was incommensurable. Lindemann
has since demonstrated that this ratio was transcendental, and
that the quadrature of the circle by means of the rule and com-
pass only is impossible.
A
Ch. m] DE MONARCHIA 141
about it ; the theologian does not know the
number of the angels,^ but he renders it no
cause for quarrel ; the Egyptian knows naught
of the civilization of Scythia, but does not there-
fore make the civiHzation a source of strife/
2. Now the truth of the third question has
te do with so keen a contention that, whereas
ignorance generally causes the discord, here the
discord causes ignorance. For it always hap-
pens to men who will things before rationally
considering them that, their desire being evil,
they put behind them the light of reason ; as
blind men they are led about by their desire,
nd stubbornly deny their blindness.^ Whence
5. The number of the angels Dante discusses in Conv. 2.
6, concluding in chapter 2. 6. 2: ** It is proved to us that
these creatures exist in immense numbers; because His Spouse
and Secretary, the Holy Church . . . says, believes, and
preaches that these most noble creatures are almost innumer-
able; and she divides them into three hierarchies."
6. Eth, 3. 3. 6: '* About things eternai no man deliber-
ates, as about the world, or the diagonal and the side of a
square, that they are incommensurable, . . , nor about things
accidental, as the finding of a treasure, nor yet about everything
human, as no Lacedaemonian deliberates how the Scythians
might be best governed.'* Moore thinks that Dante's substitu-
tion of ** Egyptian ** for ** Lacedaemonian ** was merely a slip
of memory.
7. Purg. 18. 16: *< Direct toward me the keen eyes of thy
understanding, and the error will be manifest to thee of the
^
142 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
it often occurs not only that falsehood has her
own patrimony, but that many men going out
from her boundaries run through strange camps,
where, neither understanding nor being under-
stood at ali, they provoke some to wrath, some
to disdain, and not a few to laughter.
3. Three classes of men struggle hardest
against the truth which w€ would establish.
4. First the Chief PontifF, Vicar of our Lord
Jesus Christ and successor to Peter, he to whom
we should render not what is due to Christ
but what is due to Peter, he, perchance in his
zeal for the keys, together with some pastors
of Christian flocks, and others moved solely, I
believe, by their zeal for Mother Church, con-
tradict the truth I am about to declare. They
contradict it, perchance, from zeal, I repeat, not
from pride.^
blind who make themselves leaders.*' So wickedness to Dante
was largely a matter of ignorance, of blindness, of inability to
understand, With sight and comprehension of good carne right
action.
8. Dante even in his moments of greatest indignation had
only reverence for the papal office. Inf. 19. 100: '* Were it
not that stili forbids it to me my reverence for the supreme
keys which thou heldest in the glad life, I would use words
yet more grievous; " so he says to Pope Nicolas placed among
the simoniacs in Malebolge. And of the persecution of Boni-
face Vili, whom Dante hated above ali men, he writes Purg,
Ch. in] DE MONARCHIA 143^
5. But others in their inveterate cupidity
bave quenched the light of reason, and cali
themselves sons of the Church, although they
are of their father the devil.^ Not only do they
20. 86: ** I see the fleur-de-lys enter into Alagna, and in his
Vicar Christ himself made captive. I see Him being mocked a
second time, I see the vinegar and the gali renewed, and Him
between live thieves put to death. I see the new Filate so cniel
that that sates him not, but witbout decree he bears into the
tempie his greedy sails."
9. John 8. 44: **Ye are of your father the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do. ' ' For cupidity as the greatest
of human sins, see De Mon. 2. 12. i; 1. 11. 5, and note
1 2. The worst form of cupidity was simony, trafficking in spir-
itual matters, shown forth in Inf. 19, i fF. : ** O Simon Ma-
gus ! O unhappy followers ! because the things of God, which
ought to be spouses, and ye in your greed make to commit
whoredom for gold and for silver — now it is meet that for you
the trumpet sound, seeing that in the third pit ye are sta-
tioned. ' '
Letter p. 7 To the Italian Cardìnals : ** Every one has
taken Cupidity to wife, even as ye have, — Cupidity, who is
never, like Charity, the mother of Piety and Equity, but always
of Impiety and Iniquity. Ah, most holy Mother, Bride of
Christ, what sons dost thou bear of water and of the spirit to
shame thee ! Neither Charity nor Justice, but the daughters of
the horse-leech have become thy daughters-in-law, and ali save
the Bishop of Luni attest what kind of sons they have brought
to thee. Thy Gregory lies among the cobwebs; Ambrose lies
on the neglected shelves of the clergy ; Augustine lies forgotten ;
Dionysius, Damascenus, and Bede have been thrown aside;
and I know not what Speculum, Innocent, and he of Ostia
144 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
arouse controversy in regard to this question,
but, despising the very name of the most sacred
Princehood, impudently deny the first principles
of this and the previous questions.
6. The third class, called Decretalists/° ut-
terly ignorant and unregardful of Theology and
Philosophy, dependi ng entirely on the Decretals
(whichj I grant, are deserving of veneration), and
I presume trusting in the ultimate supremacy
of these, derogate from the imperiai power.,
Nor is it to be wondered at, for I bave heard
one of them aver and insolently maintain that
ecclesiastical traditions are the foundation of
preach. Wherefore is this ? They sought God as their end
and best good; these run after riches and benefìces.*'
IO. Two of these men are named Par. 12. 83, Henry of
Susa, Archbishop of Embrun and Cardinal of Ostia, and Thad-
deus of Bologna. In Letter p. 7, quoted in the note preceding,
the Speculum of Guglielmo Durante, Innocent III, and the
Cardinal of Ostia make another list.
The Decretals were those papal decrees which form the
groundwork of the ecclesiastical law. The most important
compilation was issued by Gregory IX in 1234. The Code
of the Papal Decretals was promulgated as the statute law of
Christendom, the authority of which was superior to ali secu-
lar law. See Toynbee, Dici. s. v. Decretali; Hallam, Middle
Ages, Ch. 8, part 2.
Par. 9. 133: "For this the Gospel and the great Doctors
are deserted, and study is given to the Decretals alone, as
appears on their margins."
Ch. in] DE MONARCHIA 145
faith. Let those dispel this error of thought
Trom mortai minds whom the world doubts not
to have believed in Christ, the Son of God, ere
ecclesiastical traditions were, believed in Him
either to come, or present, or having already
sufFered," and believing hoped, and hoping
burned with love, and burning with love were
made co-heirs with Him."
7. And that such mistaken thinkers may be
wholly shut out from the present discussion, it
must be observed that some of the Scriptures
take precedence of the Church, some are equi-
valent to the Church, and some subordinate
toit.
8. Those taking precedence of the Church
are the Old and New Testaments, which, as the
Prophet says, " were commanded for ever," '^
and to which the Church refers in saying to the
Bridegroom, " Draw me after thee." '*
9. Equivalent to the Church are those Coun-
11. Par. 20. 103: ** They issued not from their bodies as
thou deemest Gentiles, but Christians, in firm faith, he of the
Feet that should suiFer, he of them having suffered.**
12. Rom. 8. 16, 17.
13. Ps. III. 9. This is a rather strained interpretation
of ** He hath sent redemption unto his people; he hath com-
manded his covenant for ever.**
1 4. Cant. 1 . 4. Dante, as was customary in his times, in-
terprets the Canticles allegorically as applying to the Church.
146 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
cils so worthy of reverence, and in the midst
of which no believer doubts the presence of
Christ ; for we have, according to Matthew*s
testimony, the words spoken to His disciples at
His ascension into heaven : " Lo, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world." '^
In addition, there are the writings of the Doc-
tors, Augustine/^ and others, and whosoever
doubts the aid of the Holy Spirit therein has
never seen their fruits, or if he has seen, has
never tasted them.
IO. Subordinate to the Church are the tradi-
tions called Decretals, which, while they must
be revered for their apostolic authority, must
nevertheless be held unquestionably inferior to
the fundamental Scriptures, seeing that Christ
rebuked the priests for not so doing. When
they had inquired, " Why do thy disciples trans-
gress the tradition of the elders ? *' '^ (for they
15. Matt. 28. 20.
16. St. Augustine (354-430). Dante quotes in the next
chapter from two of his works. De Cìvitate Dei and De
Doctrina Christiana. The ìdeals of Augustine in the former
treatise and those of Dante in the De Mon, are very similar.
For his relation to Dante see Moore, Studies, Voi. i. pp. 291-
294. Augustine is honored with a seat in the Celestial Rose
by St. Francis and St. Benedict Par. 32. 35. For fùrther
mention of him see note 9, above.
17. Matt. 15. 2, 3.
Ch. in] DE MONARCHIA 147
had omitted the washing of hands) Christ an-
swered, as Matthew testifies, " Why do ye also
transgress the commandment of God by your
tradition ? " Here the inferiority of tradition is
clearly implied.
11. If, as we believe, traditions of the Church
are subordinate to the Church, authority neces-
sarily accrues not to the Church through tradi-
tions, but to traditions through the Church.
And I repeat, those who bave faith in traditions
alone are excluded from this discussion. For
they who would hunt down this truth must
start in their search from those writings whence
the authority of the Church emanates.
12. Others must likewise be excluded who,
decked in the plumage of ravens, boast them-
selves white sheep of the Master's flock. In
order to carry out their crimes, these sons of
impiety defile their mother, banish their breth-
ren, and scorn judgments brought against them.
Why should reason be sought in behalfof these
whose passions prevent them from understand-
ing our basic principle ? '^
1 3 . There remains, then, the controversy with
1 8. Phys. 1.2. ** Cupiditas " is the word I have this time
translated **passions.'* Cf. Purg. 19. 121: ** As avarice extin-
guished our love toward every good, whence labor was lost, so
justice here holds us straitly bound." See also note 9, above.
148 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
those only who, led by a certain zeal for their
Mother the Church, are blind to the truth we
are seeking. And with them, confident in that
reverence which a loyal and loving son owes to
father and mother, to Christ and the Church,
to the Shepherd and ali who profess the Chris-
tian religion, I enter in this hook into combat
for the preservation of truth.
CHAPTER IV
*The opponents' argument adduced from the sun and
mocn,
I . Those men to whom the entire subsequent
discussion is directed assert that the authority
of the Empire depends on the authority of the
Church, just as the inferior artisan depends on
the architect.' They are drawn to this by divers
opposing arguments, some of which they take
from Holy Scripture, and some from certain
I . Metaphys. i . i : ** We reckon the chief artificers in each
case to be entitled to more dignity, and to the reputation of
superior knowledge, and to be more wise than the handicrafts-
men, because the former are acquainted with the causes of
things that are being constructed, whereas the latter produce
things as certain inanimate things do, . . . unconsciously. ' *
Bryce dates the successful claim of the papacy to mie in tem-
pora! matters to Gregory VII (1073--1086).
Ch. IV] DE MONARCHIA 149
acts performed by the Chief Pontiff, and by
the Emperor himself; and they endeavor to
make their conviction reasonable.
2. For, first, they maintain that according tQ_
Genesis God made two mighty luminaries, a '^
greater and a less, the former to hold supremacy_
^ day and the latter by night.*^ These they
interpret allegorically to be the two rulers ^ —
spiritual and temperai. Whence they argue that
as the lesser luminary, the moon, has no light
but that gained from the sun, so the tempora!
2. Gen, I. 15, 16.
3. ** Dua regimina " — two guiding or goveming powers.
Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, e. 15; ** The analogy between
the lights of heaven and the potentates of earth is one which
mediaeval writers are very fond of. It seems to have originated
with Gregory VII'* (1073-1086).
" Two lights, the sun and the moon, illumine the globe;
two powers, the papal and the royal, govern it; but as the
moon receives her light from the more brilliant star, so kings
reign by the chief of the Church who comes from God,'*
are the words of Innocent IV (124 3- 1254).
Bryce speaks in the chapter cited above of a curious seal of
the Emperor Otto IV (1208-12 12), figured in J. M. Hei-
neccius' De veteribus Germanorum atque aliar um nationum
sigillisi on which the sun and moon are represented over the
head of the Emperor: ** There seems to be no reason why
we should not take the device as typifying the accord of the
spiritual and temporal powers which was brought about at the
accession of Otto, the Guelfic leader, and the favored candi-
date of Pope Innocent III."
I50 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
ruler has no authority but that gained from the
spiritual ruler. ^ , ^^
3. Let it be noted for the refutation of this
and their other arguments that, as the Philoso-
pher holds in his writings on Sophistry, " the
destruction of an argument is the exposure of
error." ^ And because error can occur in both
the matter and the form of an argument, a two-
fold fallacy is possible — that arising from a false
assumption, and that from a failure to syllogize.
The two objections brought by the Philosopher
^1 4. Dante' s real view, that the spiritual and tempora! rulers
\ are coordinate but difFerent, is expressed De Mon. 3. 16. 6.
' Again in Purg. 16. 106 is the idea in more figurative lan-
guage: ** Rome, that made the good world, was wont to
have two suns, that showed the one and the other road, both
of the world and of God. The one has put out the other,
and the sword is joined with the crook; and the one and the
other together of very necessity it behoves that they go ili."
Le iter 6. 2 (To the Florentines) has the following figure:
«* Why, then, such a foolish supposition being disposed of, do
ye, deserting legitimate government, seek new Babylonians to
found new kingdoms, in order that the Fiorentine may be one
policy and the Roman another ? Why may it not please you
to envy the apostolic monarchy likewise ? that if Delia is to
have a twin in heaven, the Delian One may also ? '*
After the death of Henry VII and Clement V Dante wrote
in Letter p. io: ** Rome, that city now deprived of both its
luminaries.*'
5. Soph. E lene. 18.
Ch. IV] DE MONARCHIA 151
agaìnst Parmenides and Melissus were: "They
accept what ìs false, and syllogize incorrectly." ^
" False ** I use here with large significance,
embracing the improbable, which in matters
of probability becomes the false element. He
who would destroy a conclusion where there is
error in the form of the argument must show a
failure to comply with the rules of syllogizing.
Where the error is material, he must show that
an assumption has been made, pither false in
itself, or false in relation to something else.
Absolute falsity may be destroyed by destroying
the assumption, relative falsity by distinction of
meanings.^
4. Granting this, let us observe, in order to
comprehend more clearly the fallacy of this and
other arguments, that with regard to mystical
interpretation a twofold error may arise, either
6. Phys. 1.3. Parmenides was a Greek philosopher, bom
at Elea in Italy circ. 513 b. c, founder of the Eleatic School
of philosophy, in which he was succeeded by Zeno. Melissus
of Samos was one of his follo wers. These two false reasoners
serve for illustration again in Par. 13. 1 22: ** He returns not
the same as he sets out, who fishes for the truth and has not
the art; and of this are to the world open proofs Parmenides,
Melissus, and Bryson."
7. ** Distinction'* marks out two possible meanings ina
proposition; one, the sense in which it must be understood to
make it true; the other, the sense in which it must be under-
stood in order to support a given conclusion.
1^2 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
by seeking one where it is not, or by explain-
ing it other than it ought to be.
5. Of the first error Augustine says in l^he
City of God: " Not ali deeds recounted should
be thought to bave special significance, because
for the sake of significant things insignificant
details are interwoven. The plowshare by itself
cuts the land into furrows, but that this may be
accomplished the other parts of the plow are
needed/' '
6. Of the second error he speaks in bis
Christian Doctrine, saying that the man who at-
tempts to find in the Scriptures other things
than the writer's meaning " is deceived as one
who abandons a certain road, only by a long
detour to reach the goal whither the road led
directly." ^ And he adds, " Such a man should
be shown that a habit of leaving bis path may
lead him into cross-roads and tortuous ways."
Then he gives the reason why this error should
be avoided in the Scriptures, saying, " Shake the
authority of the divine writings, and you shake
ali faith." '° However, I believe that when such
8. De Civit. Dei 16. 2.
9. De Doctr. Christ. i. 36. Here Dante departs from
our present reading of Augustine' s text by using the words
**per gyrum" instead of "per agrum."
10. L, e. 37.
Ch. IV] DE MONARCHIA 153
errors are due to ignorance they shouid be par-
doned after correction has been carefully admin-
istered, just as he shouid be pardoned who is
terrified at a supposed lion in the clouds. But
when such errors are due to design, the erring
one shouid be treated like tyrants who never
apply public laws for the general welfare, but
endeavor to turn them to individuai profìt.
7. O unparalleled crime, though committed
but in dreams, of turning into evil the inten-
tion of the Eternai Spirit ! Such a sin would
not be against Moses, or David, or Job, or y
Matthew, or Paul, but against the Holy Spirit
that speaketh in them. For although the writ-
ers of the divine word are many, the dictator of
the word is one, even God, who has deigned to
make known his purpose to us through divers
pens.
8. From these prefatory remarks I proceed
to refute the above assumption that the two
luminaries of the world typify its two ruling
powers. The whole force of their argument lies
in the interpretation ; but this we can prove %
indefensible in two ways. First, since these
ruling powers are as it were accidents neces-
sitated by man himself, God would seem to
bave used a distorted order in creating first acci-
dents, and then the subject necessitating them.
154 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
It is absurd to speak thus of God, but it is
evident from the Word " that the two lights
were created on the fourth day, and man on
the sixth.
9. Secondly, the two ruling powers exist as
the directors of men toward certain ends, as will
be shown further on ; but had man remained in
the state of innocence in which God made him,
he would bave required no such direction. These
ruling powers are therefore remedies against the
y: . infirmity of sin. Since on the fourth day man
not only was not a sinner, but was not even ex-
istent, the creation of a remedy would bave been
, purposeless, which is contrary to divine good-
ness. Foolish indeed would be the physician
who should make ready a plaster for the future
abscess of a man not yet born. Therefore it
cannot be asserted that God made the two rul-
ing powers on the fourth day ; and consequently
the meaning of Moses cannot bave been what
it is supposed to be."
11. "Litera," Witte says, was a solemn word used for
«*text," especially in referring to sacred writings, during the
Middle Ages.
12. ** Man restored to the state of Eden would not need
ecclesiastical any more than he would need imperiai guidance
or authority. Hence Virgil * crowns and mitres ' Dante at
the entrance of the Garden of Eden, Purg. zj, ^z, It fol-
lows that Beatrice, whose ministrations begin here, may be
Ch. nr] DE MONARCHIA 155
IO. Also, in order to be tolerant, we may
refute this fallacy by distìnction. Refutation by
distinction deals more gently with an adversary,
for it shows him to be not absolutely wrong, as
does refutation by destruction. I say, then, that
although the moon may bave abundant light
only as she receives it from the sun, it does not
follow on that account that the moon herself
owes her existence to the sun. It must be re-\
cognized that the essence of the moon, her
strength, and her function are not one and the
same thing. Neither in her essence, her strength,
nor her function taken absolutely, does the moon
owe her existence to the sun, for her movement
is impelled by her own motor and her influence
by her own rays.'^ Besides, she has a certain
light of her own, as is shown in eclipse. It is in
order to fulfiU her function better and more
potently that she borrows from the sun abun-
Revelation, but cannot be Ecclesiastical Authonty." Wick-
steed.
1 3. The heaven of the moon was the first of the ten Dan*
tean heavens. It is described Conv. 2. 3—7, and Par. 2-5.
Nine of these were the so-called moving heavens, each having
for its motor a certain order of spiritual creature. Conv. 2. 6. 5 ;
** Wherefore it is reasonable to believe that the moti ve powers
of the Heaven of the Moon are of the order of Angels.*'
Conv. 2. 6. 7: ** These motive powers guide by their
thought alone the revolutions over which each one presides.*'
K
Ili
H
156 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk
dance of light, and works thereby more effica-
ciously.
II. In like manner, I say, the tempora!
power receives from the spiritual neither its
•existence, nor its strength, which is its author-
ity, nor even its function taken absolutely. But
well for her does she receive therefrom, through
the light of grace which the benediction of the
Chief PontifF sheds upon it in heaven and on
earthj strength to fulfill her function more per-
fectly.'^ So the argument was at fault in form,
because the predicate of the conclusion is not a
term of the major premise, as is evident. The
syllogism runs thus: The moon receives light
' from the sun, which is the spiritual power ; the
temporal ruling power is the moon ; therefore the
temporal receives authority from the spiritual.
They introduce " light " as the term of the major,
but " authority " as predicate òf the conclusion,
which two things we bave seen to be diverse in
subject and significance.
14. De Mon. 3. 16. 9, and note.
The apostolic benediction even of Clement V, whom Dante
punishes among the simoniacs in Inf. 19, is thus spoken of,
Letter ^, io: *< This is he whom Peter, the vicar of God,
admonishes us to honor; whom Clement, now the successor
of Peter, illuminates with the Hght of the apostolic benediction,
in order that where the spiritual ray does not suffice, the splen-
dor of the lesser light may illumine."
Ch. v] DE MONARCHIA 157
CHAPTER V
Argument from the precedence of Levi over yudah,
1. They also abstract an argument from the
word of Moses, declaring that in Levi and
Judah sprang from Jacob's loins the types of
these two sovereignties, the one being father of ^:
the priesthood, and the other father of temporal
rulers.* From this they argue : The relation
of Levi to Judah is that of the Church to the
Empire ; Levi preceded Judah in birth accord-
ing to Scripture ; therefore the Church precedes
the Empire in authority.
2. Refutation is bere easy, for I might as
before overthrow by positive denial the asser-
tion that Levi and Judah, the sons of Jacob,
typified these sovereignties ; but I will concede
that point. When, however, they proceed to in-
_fer from their argument that as Levi had prece-
I. Gen, 29. 34, 35. Reference is made to the sons of
Levi as men of churchly and not secular authority Purg. i6.
127. Marco Lombardo is speaking to Dante: ** Say from this
day forth that the Church of Rome, through confounding of
herself two governments, falls in the mire, and befouls herself
and her burden.** ** O my Marco," said I, ** thou reason-
est well; and now I perceive why the sons of Levi were ex-
empted from the heritage."
ù^
158 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
dence in^birth^jsp^.hasth^ Church in^uthority,
"^ repeat that the predicate of the conclusion is
not the term of the major premise, for the one
is " authority " and the other " birth," things
different in subject and meaning. There is
an error, therefore, in the form of the syllogism,
which is as follows : A precedes B in C ; D is
related to E as A is to B ; therefore D precedes
E in F. But F and C are dissimilar.
3. If they become insistent, saying that F
follows from C (that is, " authority " from
" birth ")j and that in an inference a consequent
may replace an antecedent (as " animai " might
replace " man "), I answer that it is untrue.
X Many are older in years who bave no prece-
dence in authority, but are superseded by their
juniors ; for instance, when bishops are younger
than their arch-presbyters. And so the insistence
is misplaced, for they bave named as cause that
which is none.
CHAPTER VI
Argument from the electìon and deposition of Saul by
Samuel.
I. Moreover, they take from the first hook
of Kings the election and deposition of Saul,
Ch. vi] de monarchia 159
and declare that, according to the text, Saul, an
enthroned king, was dethroned by Samuel ex-
ecuting God*s command as His Vicar.' And
they reason from this that as the Vicar of God
then had authorìty to give temperai power, to
take it away, and to transfer it to another, so
now God's Vicar, High Priest of the Church
Universal, has like authority to bestow, to with-
draw,* and even to consign to another the scep-
tre of temporal dominion. From this would
follow undoubtedly, as they claim, that the Em-
pire is a derived power.
2. But to destroy the premise that Samuel
was Vicar of God, we need only reply that he was
not Vicar ; he acted merely as a special envoy
for this commission, or as a messenger bringing
an express command from his Lord. This is
evident from the fact that what God bade him,
that alone he did and that alone recounted.
3. Wherefore let it be understood that it is
one thing to be a vicar, and another to be a
messenger or minister ; as it is one thing to
1. I Sam. IO. I, Samuel anoints Saul; 15. 23, he deposes
him; 15. 28, he transfers the authority of ruler ** to a neigh-
bour of thine, that is better than thou.*'
2. De cr et ah of Gregory y 2. 13. 2: **The Pope has power
to depose the Emperor for legitimate causes.** Boniface Vili
not only deposed Philip the Fair, but offered the French crown
to Emperor Albert I.
i6o DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
be a doctor, and another to be an interpreter.^
Now a vicar is one to whom has been assigned
jurisdiction according to law or to his arbitrary
judgment ; and so within the boundaries of the
jurisdiction assigned to him he may determine
legally or arbitrarily matters of which his lord
has no knowledge/ But an envoy, in so far as
he is an envoy, cannot do so, for as the ham-
mer operates only through the strength of the
smithj so the envoy acts only through the will
of the person who delegates him.^ Nor does it
follow, though God did this when Samuel was
His envoy, that the Vicar of God can do it. For
through His angels God has achieved, is achiev-
ing, and will achieve, many things which the
Vicar of God, the successor of Peter, was power-
less to do.
j 4. Their argument is constructed from the
whole to the part like this : Man can hear and
3. " Sicut aliud est esse doctorem, aliud esse interpretem."
4. Witte quotes from the Decretals of Gregory IX, i.
28. 5: ** A vicar can do whatever pertains to the jurisdiction
of him in whose stead he acts."
5. Ge7j. Anim. 5. 8. The figure is again used Par. 2.
1 28 : ** The movement and virtue of the holy circles, as from
the Smith the craft of the hammer, must needs from the blessed
movers have their breath.'*
Conv. 4. 23. 2: *'The fire and the hammer are efficient
causes of the knife, although the principal cause is the smith."
Ch. vn] DE MONARCHIA i6i
see; therefore the eye can hear and see. How-
ever, it would hold negatively : Man cannot fly ;
therefore the arms of man cannot fly. And in
the same way, according to the belief of Aga-
thon/ God cannot through a messenger undo
what has been done ; therefore His Vicar is
unable to do so.
CHAPTER VII
Argument front the oblation of the Magi.
I. From the hook of Matthew they also cite
the oblation of the Magi, claiming that Christ
accepted both frankincense and gold, in order
to signify that He was Lord and Governor of
the spiritual and tempora! domains.' They draw
as inference from this that the Vicar of Christ
is lord and governor of these realms, and con-
sequently has authority over both.
6. Eth. 6. 2. 6: ** But what is past does not admit of
being undone; therefore Agathon rightly says, ' Of this alone
even God is deprived, the power of making things that are
past ne ver to have been.' "
Agathon is mentioned as being one of the Greek poets in
Limbo Purg. 22. 107. Historically, nothing is known of this
poet except his friendship with Socrates, Plato, and Euripides,
and the references to him in Aristotle's Poetics and Rhe torte,
I. Matt. 2. II.
i62 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
2. In answering this I grant the textof Mat-
thew and their interpretation, but the infer-
ence they try to draw from it is false through
deficiency in the terms. Their syllogism is
this : God is Lord of the spiritual and tempora!
domains ; the Pope is the Vicar of God ; there-
fore he is lord of the spiritual and tempora!
domains. While each proposition is true, the
middle term is changed to admit four terms to
the argumentj thereby impairing the syllogistic
form. This is plain from the writings on Syllogiz-
ing considered simplyJ^ For one term is " God,"
the subject of the major premise, and the other
term is " Vicar of God," the predicate of the
minor.
3. And if any one insists on the equi valence
of God and Vicar, his Insistence is useless, for
no vicar, divine or human, can be coordinate
with His authority, as is easily seen. And we
know that the successor of Peter is not coequal
with divine power, at least not in the opera-
tion of nature. He could not by virtue of the
office committed to him make earth rise up, or
fire fall.3 It is impossible that God should bave
2. Anal. Pr, i. 25.
3. Eth. 2. I. 2. This thought is used by Dante, De Mon.
I. 15. 2, and the words from Aristotle are given in note 6
to that paragraph.
Ch. vii] de monarchia 163
intrusted ali things to him, for God was in no
way able to delegate the power of creation or of
baptism, as is plainly proved despite the con-
trary statement of the Master* in his fourth
book.
4. We know, too, that a man*s deputy, in so
far as he is a deputy, is not of coordinate power
with him, because no one can bestow what does
not belong to him. Princely authority belongs
to a prince only for his employment, since no
prince can authorize himself; he has power to
receive and to reject it, but no power to create
it in another, seeing that the creation of a prince
is not eifected by a prince. If this is true, it is
evident that no prince can substitute for himself
a regent equal in ali things to himself Where-
fore the protest is of no avail.
4. Peter Lombard (1100-1164), whom Dante places
among the great doctors in the Heaven of the Sun Par, io.
107. This reference is to his Libri Sententiarum 4. 5. 2,
3 : ** Christ gave to his servants the administering of bap-
tism, but the power he retained for himself, which had he so
wished he could have given them; . . . but he did not wish
to, lest a servant should put his hope in a servant." As Wick-
steed remarks. Dante does not believe in the deputing of min-
istry without power.
i64 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk.
CHAPTER Vili
Argument f rotti the prerogative of the keys cotisigtied to
Peter.
I. From the same gospel they quote the say-
ing of Christ to Peter, " Whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven," ' and
understand this saying to refer alike to ali the
I. Matt, i6. 19: "And I wìU gìve unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven, and w^hatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
This argument from the keys of Peter is set forth by
Thomas Aquinas, De Regimine Principium 3. io; S, T. 3,
Suppl. Q. 17; in the De crei ah of Gregory IX i. 33. 6;
2. 1 . 13. Dante' s reverence for the pontificai office can never
be questioned even in the expression of sentiments the most
Ghibelline. De Mon. 2.3.4, ^^*^ ^°^^ ^* ^^^ main references
in the Comedy that shovv^ his attitude toward the successors of
Peter are: —
Itif. 19. 90—101: <* My reverence for the supreme
keys . . ."
Itif. 27. 103: "I have power to lock and unlock Heaven
as thou knowest; since two are the keys which my forerunner
held not dear." These are words put into the mouth of Boni-
face Vili.
The two keys which Statius held from Peter in his office as
guardian of the gate of Purgatory are described Purg. 9.
117 fF.
Par, 23. 136: ** Here triumphs, under the high Son of
Ch. viu] DE MONARCHIA 165
Apostles, according to the text of Matthew and
John/ They reason from this that the succes-
sor of Peter has been granted of God power to
bind and loose ali things, and then infer that
he has power to loose the laws and decrees of
the Empire, and to bind the laws and decrees
of the temporal kingdom. Were this true, their
inference would be correct. -
2. But we must reply to it by making a dis-
tinction against the major premise of the syl-
logism which they employ. Their syllogism
is this : Peter had power to bind and loose ali
things ; the successor of Peter has like power
with him ; therefore the successor of Peter has
power to loose and bind ali things. From this
they infer that he has power to loose and bind
the laws and decrees of the Empire.
God, and of Mary, for his victory, ... he who holds the
keys of such glory.**
Par. 24. 34: ** O eteraal light of the great man to whom
our Lord left the keys, which He bore below, of this won*
drous Joy.**
Par. 27. 46: ** It was not our intention . . . that the
keys which were granted to me should become a device on a
banner to fight against men baptized.'* So Peter rebukes the
wickedness of the Church and its officials.
Par. 32. 124: ** On the right behold that ancient Father
of Holy Church to whom Christ entrusted the keys of this
lovely flower.**
2. Matt. 18. 18; John 20. 23.
i66 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
3. I concede the minor premise, but the
major only with dìstinction. Wherefore I say
that " ali," the symbol of the universal, which
is implied in " whatsoever," is never distrib-
uted beyond the scope of the distributed term.
When I say, "Ali animals run," the distribu-
tion of " ali " comprehends whatever comes
under the genus " animai." But when I say,
"Ali men run," the symbol of the universal
only refers to whatever comes under the term
"man." And when I say, "Ali grammarians
run," the distribution is narrowed stili further.
4. Therefore we must always determine what
it is over which the symbol of the universal is
distributed; then, from the recognized nature
and scope of the distributed term, will be easily
apparent the extent of the distribution. Now,
were " whatsoever " to be understood absolutely
when it is said, " Whatsoever thou shalt bind,"
he would certainly bave the power they claim ;
nay, he would bave even greater power, he
would be able to loose a wife from her husband,
and, while the man stili lived,bind her to another
— a thing he can in no wise do. He would be
able to absolve me, while impenitent — a thing
which God himself cannot do.^
3. Rom, 7. 3. hif. 27. 118: " Absolved he cannot be,
who does not repent; nor is it possible to repent and to will
Ch. VII,] DE MONARCHIA 167
5. So it is evident that the distribution of I
the terni under discussion is to be taken, not
absolutely, but relatively to something else.
A consideration of the concession to which the
distribution is subjoined will make manifest this
related something. Christ said to Peter, " I will
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven ; " that is, I will make thee doorkeeper
of the kingdom of heaven. Then he adds, " and
whatsoever," that is, " everything which,'* and
He means thereby, " Everything which per-
tains to that office thou shalt have power to bind
and loose." And thus the symbol of the univer-
sal which is implied in " whatsoever *' is limited
in its distribution to the prerogative of the keys
of the kingdom of heaven. Understood thus,
the proposition is true, but understood abso-
lutely, it is obviously not. Therefore I conclude ì
that although the successor of Peter has au-
thority to bind and loose in accordance with the
requirements of the prerogative granted to Peter,
it does not follow, as they claim, that he has
authority to bind and loose the decrees or stat-
utes of Empire, unless they prove that this also
belongs to the office of the keys. But we shall
demonstrate farther on that the contrary is true.
at the same time, by reason of the contradiction which agrees
not in it.**
Y
i68 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
CHAPTER IX
Argument from the two swords,
I. They quote also the words in Luke which
Peter addressed to Christ, saying, " Behold, here
are two swords," ' and they assert that the two
ruling powers were predicted by those two
swords, and because Peter declared they were
I . Luke 22. 38. This was one of the most popular argu-
ments in^ mediaeval writers for the supremacy of the Church.
In the bull ** Unam Sanctam " Boniface Vili says: ** We are
taught by the words of the gospel to recognize that two swords
are in the power of this man, that is, the spiritual and temporal.
For when the apostles said, * Here are two swords/ the
Lord did not respond, * It is too much,' but, ' It is enough.'
Both are in the power of the Church: the one the spiritual,
to be used by the Church, the other the material, for the
Church; the former that of priests, the latter that of kings and
soldiers, to be wielded at the command and by the sufFerance of
the priest. One sword must be under the other, the temporal
under the spiritual. . . . The spiritual instituted the temporal
power, and judges whether that power is well exercised. . . .
We therefore assert, define, and pronounce that it is neces-
sary to salvation to believe that every human being is subject
to the PontifF of Rome. ' '
Generally with Dante the sword typifies Empire. Purg. 1 6.
109: **The sword is joined with the crook." Par. 8. 145:
** But ye wrest to religion such an one as shall ha ve been born
to be girt with the sword, and ye make him a king who is a
man of sermons.'*
Ch. IX] DE MONARCHIA 169
" where he was," that is, " with him/* they con-
clude that according to authority these two
ruling powers abide with Peter's successor.
2. To refute this we must show the falsity
of the interpretation on which the argument
is based. Their assertion that the two swords
which Peter designated signify the two ruling
powers before spoken of, we deny outright,
because such an answer would bave been at
variance with Christ's meaning, and because
Peter replied in baste, as usuai, with regard to
the mere external significance of things.
3. A consideration of the words preceding it
and of the cause of the words will show that
such an answer would bave been inconsistent
with Christ's meaning. Let it be called to mind
that this response was made on the day of
the feast, which Luke mentions earlier, saying,
" Then carne the day of unleavened bread, when
the passover must be killed." ^ At this feast
Christ had already foretold His impending pas-
sion, in which He must be parted from His dis-
ciples. Let it be remembered also that when
these words were uttered, ali the twelve dis-
ciples were together ; wherefore a little after the
words just quoted Luke says, " And when the
hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve
2. Luke 22. 7.
I70 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
Apostles with him." ^ Continuing the discourse
from this place he reaches the words, " When
I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes,
lacked ye anything ? " ^ And they answered,
" Nothing." Then said He unto them, " But
now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and
likewise his scrip : and he that hath no sword,
let him sell his garment, and buy one." The
meaning of Christ is clear enough here. He
did not say, " Buy or procure two swords,'* but
" twelve ; " for it was in order that each of the
twelve disciples might bave one that He said
to them, " He that hath no sword, let him buy
one." And He spake thus to forewarn them of
the persecution and contempt the future should
bring, as though he would say, " While I was
with you ye were welcomed, now shall ye be
turned away. It behooves you, therefore, to
prepare for yourselves those things which before
I denied to you, but for which there ìs present
need." If Peter's reply to these words had car-
ried the meaning ascribed to it, the meaning
would bave been at variance with that of Christ,
and Christ would bave censured Him, as he did
oftentimes, for his wìtless answers. However,
He did not do so, but assented, saying to him,
3. Luke 22. 14.
4. Luhe 22. 35, 36.
Ch. IX] DE MONARCHIA 171
" It is enough/' ' meaning, " I speak because of
necessity ; but if each cannot have a sword, two
will suffice."
4. And that Peter usually spoke of the ex-
ternal significance of things is shown in his
quick and unthinking presumption, impelled, I
believe, not only by the sincerity of his faith,
but by the purity and simplicity of his nature.
To this characteristic presumption ali those who
write of Christ bear witness.
5. First, Matthew records that when Jesus
had inquired of the disciples : " Whom say ye
that I am ? " before ali the others Peter replied,
" Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God."
He also records that when Christ was telling
His disciples how He must go to Jerusalem and
suffer many things, Peter took Him and began
to rebuke Him, saying, " Be it far from thee.
Lord: this shall not be unto thee." Then Christ,
turning to him, said in reproof, " Get thee be-
hind me, Satan." ^ Matthew also writes that on
the Mount of Transfiguration, in the presence
of Christ, Moses, and Elias, and the two sons
of Zebedee, Peter said, " Lord, it is good for us
to be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three
tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and
5. Luke 22. 38.
6. Matt. 16. 15, 16, 21, 22, 23.
172 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
one for Elias." ^ Matthew further writes that
when the disciples were on the ship in the night,
and Chrìst walked on the water, Peter said,
" Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water." ^ And that when Christ predicted
how ali His disciples should be offended because
of Him, Peter answered, "Though ali men shall
be offended because of thee, yet will I never be
offended." ^ And afterwards, "Though I should
die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." And
this statement Mark '° confirms, while Luke
writes that, just before the words we bave quoted
concerning the swords, Peter had said to Christ,
" Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into
prison and to death." "
6. John tells of him, that when Christ de^
sired to wash his feet, Peter asked, " Lord, dost
thou wash my feet ? " and then said, " Thou
shalt never wash my feet." " He further relates
7. Matt. 17. 4.
8. Matt. 14. 28. Peter' s faith on this occasion is the
subject of praise agaìn in Par. 24. 34: *' O eternai light of
the great man to whom our Lord left the keys, which he bore
below, of this wondrous J07, try this man concerning points
easy and hard as pleases thee, about the faith by which thou
didst go upon the sea."
9. Matt. 26. 33, 35.
10. Mark 14. 29.
1 1. Luke 22. 33.
12. John 13. 6, 8.
Ch.ix] de monarchia 173
how Peter smote with his sword the servant of
the High Priest, an account in which the four
Kvangelists agree.'^ And John tells how when
Peter carne to the sepulchre and saw the other
disciples lingering at the door, he entered in
straightway ; '^ and again when after the resur-
rection Jesus stood on the shore and Peter
" heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's
coat unto him (for he was naked), and did cast
himself into the sea." '^ Lastly, he recounts that
when Peter saw John, he said to Jesus, " Lord,
and what shall this man do ? " '^
7. It is a source of Joy to have summed up
this evidence of our Head Shepherd,'' in praise
of his singleness of purpose. From ali this it is
obvious that when he spoke of the two swords,
13. John iS. io; Mati. 26.51; Mark i/^. /\.j; Luke 22.
50.
14. John 20. 5, 6. Dante*s second reference to this in-
cident is in Par. 24. 125: ** O holy father, O spirit who
seest that which thou so believest, that thou didst outdo
younger feet toward the sepukhre.**
15. John 21. 7.
16. John 21. 21.
17. ** Head Shepherd *' is in the Latin ** Archimandrita."
St. Francis is given this name Par. 11. 99: "The holy de-
sire of this head shepherd of his flock waS" crowned with a
second diadem by the eternai spirit through Honorius.'* And
in Letter g. 6 Dante calls the unfaithful officers of the Church,
<* Archimandrites throughout the world in name alone.**
174 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
his answer to Christ was unambiguous in mean-
ing.
8. Even if the words of Christ and Peter are
to be accepted typically, they cannot be inter-
preted in the sense these men claim, but rather
as referring to the sword concerning which
Matthew writes : " Think not that I am come
to send peace on earth : I carne not to send
peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man
at variance against his father," '^ and what fol-
lows. This He accomplished in word and deed,
wherefore Luke tells Theophilus of ali " that
Jesus began to do and teach." '^ Such was the
.sword Christ enjoined them to buy, and Peter
made answer that already they had two with
them. As we bave shown, they were ready for
words and for works to bring to pass those
things which Christ proclaimed He had come
to do by the sword.
CHAPTER X
Argument from the donation of Constantìne^
I. In addition, some persons affirm that the
Emperor Constantine, healed of leprosy by the
i8. Matt. IO. 34, 35.
19. Acts I. I.
I . Near the end of the eighth century the decretals and do-
Ch. X] DE MONARCHIA 175
intercession of Sylvester, then the Supreme
PontifF/ gave to the Church the very seat of
Empire, Rome, together with many imperiai
dignities.^ Wherefore they argue that no one
nation of Constantine were forged, documents which purported
that when that Emperor removed his capital to Byzantium,
324 A. D., he left Rome in order to give to the Church tem-
poral sway in the western world. That this donation was a
forgery was not discovered until 1440 by Laurentinus Valla.
See Gibbon, voi. 6. 49 (notes 68-76), the Milman-Smith
edition. It is scarcely necessary to add that Dante had fìrm
faith in the genuineness of the donation.
2. Inf. 27. 94: "Constantine sought Sylvester within
Soracte to heal him of his leprosy . * * This legend Butler thinks
Dante took from Brunetto, Trésor, Bk. i, Pt. 2, e. 87,
but Toynbee traces it to the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de
Voragine. See Toynbee, Studies, p. 297. Cf. De Regim,
Princ. 3. 16.
3. The donation is mentioned De Mon. 2. 12. 2; 2. 13.
5; 3- 13- 4-
Inf. 19. 115: **Ah, Constantine, of how great ili was
mother, not thy conversion, but the dowry which the first
rich pope got from thee."
In the vision of Church and Empire, Purg. 32, the worldly
wealth of the papacy is thus described 1. 124: ♦* Next from
thence, whence it had before come, I saw the eagle come
down into the ark of the car, and leave it feathered with itself; *'
line 136: **That which remained, like ground alive with
herbage, covered itself again with feathers, ofFered haply with
sound and benign intention, and was covered again."
The eagle describes Constantine Par. 20. 55: "The
second who follows, with the laws and with me, under a good
L^
176 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
has power to assume these dignities except he
receives them from the Church, to whom it is
asserted they belong. And from this it would
fairly follow, as they desire, that one authority
is dependent on the other.
2. So having stated and refuted the argu-
ments which seemed to be rooted in divine
Communications, it now remains to set forth and
disprove those rooted in Roman deeds and
human reason. We have just spoken of the first
of these, whose syllogism runs thus : Those
jthings which belong to the Church no one can
I rightly possess, unless granted them by the
i Church ; and this we concede. The ruhng power
of Rome belongs to the Church ; therefore no
one can rightly possess it unless granted it by
the Church. And the minor premise they prove
by the facts mentioned above concerning Con-
stantine.
3. This minor premise, then, I deny. Their
Iproof is no proof, for Constantine had not the
I power to alienate the imperiai dignity, nor had
the Church power to receive it. Their insistent
objection to what I say can be met thus. No
intention which bore ili fruit, to give way to the Pastor, made
himself a Greek. Now knows he how the ili deduced from
his good work is not harmful to him, albeit that the world
be thereby destroyed."
Ch. x] DE MONARCHIA 177
one is free to do through an office assigned him
anything contrary to the office, for thereby the
same thing, in virtue of being the same, would
he contrary to itself, which is impossible. But
to divide the Empire would be contrary to thej
office assigned the Emperor, for as is easily seen)
from the first hook of the treatise, his office \s '
to hold the human race subject tó"one will ìilL
TfTtliings. Therefore, division of his Empire
is not allowed an Emperor. If, as they claim,
certain dignities were alienated by Constantine
from the Empire and ceded to the power of the
Church, the " seamless coat " ^ would have been
rent, which even they had not dared to muti-
late who with their spears pierced Christ, the
very God. Moreover, as the Church has its
own foundationj^so^lias^the Empire its own^^^
TTie fòundation of the Church is Christ, as
^the Apostle writes to the Corinthians : " Other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid,
which is Jesus Christ." ^ He is the rock on
which the Church is founded^but the founda-^'
tion of the Empire is human Right. Now I say
4. yohn 19. 23, 24, 34. The seamless robe is again used
as the type of undivided monarchy De Mon. i. i6, and
note 6.
5. I Cor. 3. II.
6. Matt, 16. 18.
lyS DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
that as the Church cannot act contrary to its
foundatìon, but must be supported thereby, ac-
cording to that verse of the Canticles : " Who is
shè that cometh up from the desert, abounding
in delights, leaning on her beloved ? '' ^^ so the
Empire cannot act in conflict with human Right.
Therefore the Empire may not destroy itself,
lof, should it do so, it would act in conflict with.
human Right. Inasmuch as the Empire con-
sists in the indivisibiHty of universal Monarchy,
and inasmuch as an apportionment of the Em-
pire would destroy it, it is evident that division
is not allowed to him who discharges imperiai
duty.^ And it is prov^d, from what has been
previously said, that to destroy the Empire
would be contrary to human Right.
4. Besides, every jurisdiction exists prior to
its judge, since the judge is ordained for the
7. Ca;^. 8. 5 (Vulg.). The English version has not the
words ** deliciis effluens," "abounding in delights." Dante
quotes the verse, as here, in Cot^v. 2. 6. 2, as definitela signi-
fying the Church.
8. Witte refers to Engelbertus Admonteus, De Or tu et
Fine Rom. Imp. 18: ** It was not permitted that the Emperor
Hadrian or Jovinian should surrender the imperiai boundaries,
. . . nor has it been, nor will it be permitted to any Emperor,
because then would it fall from the name and dignity of Au-
gustus, which means that the Empire should be augmented
and not diminished."
Ch. x] de monarchia 179
jurisdìction, and not conversely. As the Em-
pire is a jurisdiction embracing in its circuit the
^ admìnìstration of justice in ali tempora! things,
so it is prior to itsjudge, who is Emperor ; and
the Emperor is ordained for it, and not con-
versely. Clearly the Emperor, as Emperor, can-
not alter the Empire, for from it he receives his
^eìng and state. So I say, either he was Em-
peror when he made the concession they speak
of to the Church, or he was not. If he was
not, it is plain that he had no power to grant
anything with regard to the Empire. And if
he was, then as Emperor he could not have
done this, for the concession would have nar-
rowed his jurisdiction. '
5. Further, if one Emperor has power to
cut away one bit from the jurisdiction of the
Empire, another may do the same for like rea-
son. And since temporal jurisdiction is finite,
and every finite thing may be consumed by
finite losses, the possibility of annihilating pri-
mal jurisdiction would follow. But this is in-
conceivable.
6. And since he who confers a thing has the
relation of agent, and he qa whom it is con-
ferred the relation of patient, according to the
Philosopher in the fourth hook to Nicomachus^
then in order for a grant to be legai, pro'per
X
i8o DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
qualification is essential not only in the giver,
but in the recipient.^ Indeed, it seems that the
lacts of agents exist potentially in a properly
Iqualified patient. But the Church was utterly
disqualified for receiving tempora! power by
■the express prohibitive command in Matthew :
" Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass
in your purses, nor scrip for your journey,"
etc.'°^For although we learn from Luke" of
"the mitigation of this order regarding certain
things, yet I am unable to find that sanction
was given the Church to possess gold and silver,
subsequent to the prohibition. Wherefore if
the Church had not power to receive, even had
Constantine power to bestow, temporal author-
ity, the action would nevertheless be impossi-
' ble, because of the disqualification of the patient.
Ìlt is demonstratedj then, that neither could the
Church accept by way of possession, nor could
\ Constantine confer by way of alienation. How-
ever, the Emperor did bave power to depute to
the protectorship of the Church a patrimony
and other things, as long as bis supreme com-
9. Eth, 4. I. 8: "The liberal man will give for the sake
of the honorable, and will give properly, for he will give to
proper objects, in proper quantities, at proper times.*'
10. Matt. IO. 9.
11. Luke 9. 3; IO. 4.
Ch. XI] DE MONARCHIA i8i
mand,the unity of which suffers no impaìrment,
remained unchanged. And the Vicar of God
had power to receive such things, not for pos-
session, but for distribution on behalf of the
Church of its fruits to the poor of Christ." We
are not ignorant that thus the Apostles did.
CHAPTER XI
Argument front the summontng of Charles the Great hy
Pope Hadrian,
I. Stili further, our opponents say that Pope
Hadrian called ' Charles the Great* to the aid of
himself and the Church, because of oppression
by the Lombards ^ in the reign of Desiderius
12. De Mon. 2. 12. i, and note 2.
1. *' Advocavit '* in the originai, and closely related to
"advocati** in the following sentence, the "advocates" or
«* those called."
2. Charlemagne became king of the Frankìsh people in
77 1 ; petitioned for aid against the Lombards by Pope H adrian ,
he defeated Desid erius in 774 » and became king of the Lom-
bards; he was made^mperorj^Lthg Wg^t by Pnpg \,^q TTT
on Christmas Day, 800. Pope Hadrian did not give Charle-
magne the imperiai dignity. Dante places Charlemagne among
the defendersof the faith in the Heaven of Mars Par. 18. 43.
3. Par. 6. 94: <* And when the Lombard tooth bit the
Holy Church, under its wings great Charles conquering suc-
coured her.** Cf. De Regim. Princ, io. io, 18.
i82 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
their king, and that from the Pope Charles
received the dignity of Empire, notwithstand-
ing the fact that Michael ^ held imperiai sway
at Constantinople. Wherefore they declare that
after Charles ali Roman Emperors were advo-
cates of the Church, and must be called to
office by the Church. From this would follow
the relationship between the Church and Em-
pire which they desire to prove.
2. To refute this argument, I answer that
their premise in it is a mere nullity, for usur-
pation of right does not create a right. If it
did, the same method would show the depend-
ency of ecclesiastical authority on the Empire,
after the Emperor Otto restored Pope Leo, and
deposed Benedict, sending him in exile to Sax-
ony.^
4. Michael I reigned in Constantinople from 811 to 813.
The ruler at the time of Charlemagne was the Empress Irene
(797-802).
5. Otto I was Emperor 962-973. In 963 the Roman
synod elected his nominee for the papacy, but in the follow-
ing year, while the Emperor was absent from Rome, they de-
posed Leo III and put Benedict V in the chair. On Otto's
return in 964, he sent Benedict to Hamburg and reinstated
Leo.
Ch. XII] DE MONARCHIA 183
CHAPTER XII
Argument from reason.
1. Their argument from reason, however, ìs
this. They Jay down the principle advanced
in the tenth hook of the First Philosophy, that \
" ali thìngs of one genus are reducible to a type
which is the standard of measurement for ali
within the genus." ' Since ali men are of one
genus, they ought to be reducible to a type as a
standard for ali others. And since the Supreme
PontifF and the Emperor are men, they must
therefore, if our conclusion is true, be reducible
to one man. And since the Pope cannot be /
subordinated to another, it remains for the Em-
peror and ali others to be subordinated to the
Pope as their measure and rule ; whence results \
the conclusion they desire. ^ J
2. That this reasoning may be invalidated, I
agree that their statement is true that ali things
of one genus ought to be reduced to some
one member of that genus as a standard of
measurement. Likewise is it true that ali men
are of one genus. Also is true their conclu-
sion drawn from these that ali men ought to be
I. Metaphys. io. i. In Conv. i. i. i, as here. Dante
calls the Metaphysics the First Philosophy.
i84 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
subordinateci to one standard for the genus.
But when from this conclusìon they draw the
further inference concerning Pope and Emperor,
they deceive themselves with the fallacy of ac-
cidental attributes.
3. To make this evident, be it known that
it is òne thìng to be a man and another thìng
to be a Pope. And just so it is one thing to be
a man and another thing to be an Emperor, as
it is one thing to be a man and another to be
a father or master. Man is man because of his
substantial form, which is the determinant of his
species and genus, and which places him under
the category of substance.'' But a father is such
because of an accidental form, that of relation,
which is the determinant of a certain species and
genus, and which places him under the category
of relation. Otherwise everything would be
reduced to the category of substance, since no
2. The two main categories are those of substance and
accident. Under accident are the sub-categorìes of relation,
position, quality, etc. In the category of substance. Pope and
Emperor are measurable by the same standard. In the cate-
gory of accident, they are in the same sub -genus of relation,
and in difFerent but coordinate species of the sub-genus. So in
the category of accident they are not measurable by the same
standard. In the text Dante uses the word ** praedicamen-
tum " for category, and in De Mon. 3. 15. 4 he calls Aris-
totle's Categories by that name.
Ch. xu] DE MONARCHIA 185
accidental forni exists in itself, apart from the
basis of underlying substance. But this is false.
Therefore since the Pope and Emperor are what
they are because of certain relations, the former
through the Papacy, a relation in the province
of fatherhood, and the latter through the Em-
pire, a relation in the province of government,
it is manifest that the Pope and the Emperor,
in so far as they are such, must have place under
the category of relation, and consequently must
be subordinated to something in that genus.
4. Whence, I repeat, they are to be measured
by one standard in so far as they are men, and
by another in so far as they are Pope and Em-
peror. Now, in so far as they are men, they
have to be measured by the best man (whoever
he may be '), that is, by him who is the stand-
ard and ideal of ali men, and who has the most
perfect unity among his kind, as we may learn
from the last hook, to Nicomachus.^ But in as
far as they are relative, it is evident that one
must be measured by the other, if one is subor-
dinate ; or they must unite in a common species
from the nature of their relation ; or they must
3. Then the best man might be other than the Pope or
Emperor.
4. Eth. IO. 5. io: ** Excellence and the good man, so
far forth as he is good, are the measure of everything.**
i86 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
be measured by a third something as their com-
mon ground of unity. But it cannot be main-
tained that one is subordinate to the other ; that
is, it is false to predicate one of the other, to
cali the Emperor the Pope, or to cali the Pope
the Emperor. Nor is it possible to maintain
that they unite in a common species, for the
relation of Pope, as such, is other than the rela-
tion of Emperor as Emperor. Therefore they
must be measured by something beyond them-
selves in which they shall find a ground of
unity.
5. At this point it must be understood that
as relation stands to relation, so stands related
thing to related thing. Hence if the Papacy and
Empire, being relations of authority,^ must be
measured with regard to the supreme authority
from which they and their characteristic differ-
ences are derived, the Pope and Emperor, being
relative, must be referred to some unity wherein
may be found the supreme authority without
these characteristic differences. And this will be
either God Himself, in whom every relation is
universally united,or in some substance inferior
to God, in whom is found a supreme author-
ity difFerentiated and derived from His perfect
supremacy. And so it is evident that the Pope
5. *' Quum sint relationes superpositionis. ' *
Ch. xiii] DE MONARCHIA 187
and Emperor, as men, are to be measured by
one standard, but as Pope and Emperor by
another. And this demonstration is from the
argument according to reason.
CHAPTER XIII
The authority of the Church is noi the source of Imperiai
authority,
I. Now that we have stated and rejected the
errors on which those chiefly rely who declare
that the authority of the Roman Prince is de-
pendent on the Roman PontifF, we must return
and demonstrate the truth of that third ques-
tion, which we propounded for discussion at the
beginning. The truth will be evident enough
if it can be shown, under the principle of inquiry
agreed upon, that Imperiai authority derives
immediately fronTthe summit of ali being, which
is~God. And this will be shown, whether we
prove "thàt Imperiai authority does not derive
from that of the Church (for the dispute con-
cerns no other authority), or whether we sim-
ply prove that it derives immediately from
God.
1, That ecclesiastical authority is not the
source of Imperiai authority is thus verifìed. A
i88 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
thing non-existent or devoid of active force
cannot be the cause of active force in a thing
possessing that quahty in full measure. ^But be-
fore the Church existed, or while it lacked power
to act, the Empire had active force in full mea-
sure. Hence the Church is the source neither
of acting power nor of authority in the Empire,
Lwhere power to act and authority are identical.
Let A be the Church, B the Empire, and C
the power or authority of the Empire. If, A
being non-existent, C is in B, the cause of C's
relation to B cannot be A, since it is impossible
that an eifect should exist prior to its cause.
Moreover, if, A being inoperative, C is in B,
the cause of C's relation to B cannot be A, since
it is indispensable for the production of efFect
that the cause should be in operation previously,
éspecially the efficient cause which we are con-
sidering here.
3. The major premise of this demonstration
is intelligible from its terms ; the minor is con-
firmed by Christ and the Church. Christ attests
it, as we said before, in His birth and death.
The Church attests it in PauFs declaration to
Festus in the Acts of the Apostles : " I stand at
Caesar*s judgment seat, where I ought to be
judged;"' and in the admonition of God's
I. Jcts 25. IO.
Ch. xm] DE MONARCHIA 189
angel to Paul a little later : " Fear not, Paul ;
thou must be brought before Caesar ; " ' and
again stili later in Paul's words to the Jews
dwelling in Italy : "And when the Jews spake
against it, I was constrained to appeal unto
Caesar; not that I had aught to accuse my nation
of,*' but " that I might deliver my soul from
death." ^ If Caesar had not already possessed
the right to judge temporal matters, Christ
would not have implied that he did, the angel
would not have uttered such words, nor would
he who said, " I desire to depart and be with
Christ,""* have appealed to an unqualified judge.
4. And if Constantine had no authority over
the resources of the Church, that which he
transferred to her from the Empire could not
have been so transferred with Right, and the
Church would be utilizing an unrighteous gift.
But God desires that ofFerings be spotless, ac-
cordi ng to the text of Leviticus : " No meat
ofFering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord,
shall be made with leaven;*'^ and this command,
though it seem to concern givers, refers never-
theless to recipients. For it is folly to believe
that God desires that to be accepted which He
forbids to be given. Indeed, in the same hook is
2. Jcts 27. 24. 3. Acts 28. 19.
4. Phil. I. 23. 5. Lev. 2. II.
I90 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
the command to the Levites: "Contaminate not
your souls, nor touch anything of theirs, lest ye
be unclean." ^ But it is highly improper to say
that the Church uses unrighteously the patri-
mony deputed to her, therefore what followed
from such a saying is false.
CHAPTER XIV
The Church receìved power of transfer enee neither from
God^from her self nor from any' Emperor,
I. Besides, if the Church has power to confer
authority on the Roman Prince, she would have
it either from God, or from herself, or from
some Emperor, or from the unanimous consent
of mankindj or at least, from the consent of
the most influential. There is no other least
crevice through which the power could have
difFused itself into the Church. But from none
of these has it come to her, and therefore the
aforesaid power is not hers at ali.
1, Here is the proof that it has come from
none of these sources. If she had received it
from God, it would have been by divine or
naturai law, for what is received from nature is
received from God, though the converse is not
6. Lev. 1 1. 43.
Ch. XIV] DE MONARCHIA 191
true. But this ecclesiastical right carne not by
naturai law, for nature imposes no law save for
her own efFects, and inadequacy is not possible
to God where He brings something into being
without secondary agents.'_Since jhe Church Js
an efFect no t^of nature, but of God, who said,
" Upon tj m_rock I will build my Church," *
and in another place, " I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do," ^ it is indis-
putable that nature gave not this law to the
Church.
3. Neither did this power come by divine
law ; for in the bosom of the two Testaments,
wherein is embodied every divine law, I am
unable to discover any command for the early
or later priesthood to have care or solicitude in
temporal things. Nay, I find rather that the
early priests were released from such care by
precept, as in the words God spake to Moses ;'*
1. Dante seems to imply that things brought to pass
through nature are brought to pass through a secondary agent.
2. Matt. 16. 18.
3. John 17. 4.
4. Num. 18. 20: "And the Lord spake unto Aaron,
Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt
thou have any part among them. I am thy part and thine in-
heritance among the children of Israel.**
Purg. 16. 131: ** The sons of Levi were exempted from
the heritage."
192 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
and the same of later priests as in the words
of Christ to Hìs disciples.^ Nor would it have
been possible to have been thus released, if the
authority of temporal power originated with the
priesthood ; for at least anxiety concerning right
provision would be with them in conferring
authority, and then continuai precaution, lest
the authorized might deviate from the path of
recti tude.
4. Also, that this power carne not from the
Church is easily seen. Nothing can give what
it does not possess, so everything must be
in act what it intends to do, as is held in the
treatise on simple Being,^ 3ut if the Church gave
_tp herself that power, it was not hers iDcforé^
she gave it, and she thus would have giveri'
herself that which she did not possess, which
cannot beT ^7^ ~'
5. ThatThe power came not from some Em-
peror is sufEciently explained by what has gone
before.
6. And, indeed, who doubts that it carne not
from the unanimous consent of men, or from
that of the most influential ? Not only ali the
5. Matt. IO. 9: " Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor
brassinyourpurses;" Mark 6. 8; Luke g. 3; 10.4; 22. 35.
6. Metaphys. 8. 8. The priority of energy or activity to
capacity or potentiality is discussed here at length.
Ch. XV] DE MONARCHIA 193
people of Asia and Africa, but even the greater
part of those inhabiting Europe, are averse to
her. Truly, it is bootless to adduce proofs in
matters perfectly evident.
CHAPTER XV
The prerogative of conferrtng authority upon the Empire is
contrary to the nature o/the Church,
1. Again, that which is contrary to the na-
ture of anything is not numbered among its
peculiar powers, since the powers of anything
correspond to its nature for the attainment of
its end.' But the power to confer authority over
^he kingdom of our mortai life is contrary to
^^tlie^ nature of the Church, and is therefore not
__numbered among her prerogatives.
2. To prove the minor premise, it must be
known that the nature of the Church is the in-
forming principle of the Church. For though
the word " nature " may be used of material and
I. Phys. 7. 3. Conv. 3. 15. 4: " The naturai desirc of
everything is regulated according to the capacity of the thing
desiring ; otherwise it would oppose itself, which is impos-
sible, and nature would have made it in vain, which is also
impossible.** De Mon. i. 3. i ; i. io. i; 2. 7. 2, repeat
the same idea.
194 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
form, yet it is used more properly of form, as is
shown in the hook on Naturai Learning,^ But
the form of the Church is naught else than the
life of Christ as it is comprised in His teach-
ings and in His deeds. Truly, His life was the
ideal and exemplar of the Church militant, par-
ticularly of its pastors, and more than ali of its
Head Shepherd, whose duty it is to feed His
sheep and lambs. Hence, when in the Gospel
of John He bequeathed to men the informing
principle of His life. He said, " I have given you
an example, that ye should do as I have done
to you." ^ And especially, as we learn from the
same Gospel, when He said to Peter, after He
had conferred upon Him the function of shep-
herd, " Peter, follow me/' ^ JBut before Pilate,
_Christ disclaimed any ruling power of a tem-
perai kind, saying, " My kingdom is nòt of this
world : if my kingdom were of this world, then
would my servants fight, that I should not be
>»
2. Phys. 2. I : ** Form is nature.'
Metaphys. 6. 7. 4: "From art are generateci those things
of whatsoever there is a form in the soul. But I mean by form
the essence or very nature of a thing." L. e. 6. 9: ** Art
is form." S. T. 1-2. 94. 3: ** Every being is naturally in-
clined to an activity befitting itself, according to its form.'*
3. John 13. 15.
4. John 21. 19.
Ch. XV] DE MONARCHIA 195
delìvered to the Jews ; but now is my kingdom
not from hence." ^
3. This must not be understood to imply
that Christ, who is God, is not Lord of the tem-
poral kingdom, seeing that the Psalmist says,
"The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands
formed the dry land ; " ^ but rather to mean that,
as exemplar of the Church, He had not charge
of this kingdom. Similarly, if a golden seal were
to say, " I am not the standard for any class of
objects," it would not speak truly, in so far as it is
gold, the standard of ali metals. It would speak
truly only in so far as it is a particular stamp,
capable of being received by impression.''
4. Therefore it is the formai principle of the
Church to declare and to believe Christ*s saying.
To declare and to believe the opposite is mani-
festly contrary to the formai principle, or, what
is the same thing, to the nature of the Church.
We may gather from this that the prerogative
to grant authority to the temporal domain is
contrary to the nature of the Church, for con-
trariety in thought or in saying follows from
contrariety in the thing spoken or thought.
Just so truth or falsity in speech originates from
the existence or non-existence of a thing, as the
5. John 18. 36. 6. Ps, 95. 5.
7. De Mon. 2. 3, notes 6 and 13.
196 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
teaching of the Categories ^ shows us. Through
the above arguments, leadingto an absurdity, has
it been sufficiently demonstrated that the au-
thority of Empire is not at ali dependent upon
the Church.
CHAPTER XVI
The authorìty of the Empire derives from God dìrectly,
1. Although by the method of reduction to
absurdity it has been shown in the foregoing
chapter that the authority of Empire has not its
source in the Chief Pontiff, yet it has not been
fully proved, save by an inferente, that its im-
mediate source is GodjSeeing that if the author-
ity does not depend on the Vicar of God, we
conclude that it depends on God Himself. For
a perfect demonstration of the proposition we
must prove directly that the Emperor, or Mon-
arch, of the world has immediate relationship
to the Prince of the universe, who is God.'
2. In order to realìze this, it must be under-
stood that man alone of ali beings holds the mid-
dle place between corruptibìlity and incorrupti-
8. Categ. e. 12. De Mon. 3. 12, note 2.
I. De Mon. 1. 7. i. Purg. 32. 100: ** Here thou shalt
be a little time a woodman, and with me shalt thou be wìthout
end, a citizen of that Rome whereof Christ is a Roman.**
Ch. xvi] DE MONARCHIA 197
bility, and is therefore rightiy compared by phi-
losopHers to the horizon which lies between the
two hemispheres.' Man may be considered with
regard to either òf~Kis essentiàr"parts, body"^
^soul.' If considered in regard to the body alone^
" he is perishable ; if in regard to the soul alone, he
is imperishable. So the Philosopher spoke well
of its incorruptibility when he said in the second
book on the Sou/y " And this only can be separated
as a thing eternai from that which perishes.** *
3. If man holds a middle place between the
perishable and imperishable, then, inasmuch as
2. De Causisy Lect. 2: "Generateci intelligence compre-
hends both nature and the horizon of nature, that is to say
the soul, for it is above nature.'*
3. The nature and origin of the human soul is discussed
Conv, 4. 21. In Purg. 25 Statius discourses on genera-
tion and the soul, and its attributes fìnd due place there.
Other references are: —
Conv. 4. 21. 2: " We must know that man is com-
posed of soul and body; but of the soul is that nobility . . .
which is as the seed of the Divine virtue. * *
Par. 7. 139: '*The soul of every brute and of the plants,
being endued by complexion with potency, draws in the ray
and the movement of the holy lights. But your life the high'
est Goodness inspires."
So Thomas Aquinas, S. T. i. 76. 4. 4: "The soul is
the substantial form of man;** so also /. e. 1-2. 94. 3:
** The proper form of man is his rational soul.**
4. De Anima 2. 2. 21.
198 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
every mean shares the nature of the extremes,
man must share both natures/ And inasmuch
as every nature is ordained for a certain ultimate
end, it follows that there exists for man a two-
fold end, in order that as he alone of ali beings
partakes of the perishable and the imperishable,
so he alone of ali beings should be ordained for
two ultimate ends. One end is for that in him
which is perishable, the other for that which is
imperishable.
4. InefFable Providence has thus designed
two ends to be contemplated of man : first, the
happiness of this life, which consists in the ac-~
tivity of his naturai powers,^ and is prefigured
by the terrestrial Paradise;^ and then the bless-
edness of life everlasting, which consists in the
enjoyment of the countenance of God, to which
man's naturai powers may not attain unless
aided by divine light, and which may be sym-
boHzed by the celestial Paradise.^
5. De Pari. Anim, 3. i.
6. Conv. 3. 15. 5: *' Felicity . . . is action according
to virtue, in the perfect life.'' So Aristotle says in Eth. i.
13. I : ** Happiness is a certain energy of the soul according
to perfect goodness.'' Dante uses this definition again Conv.
4. 17. 14.
7. Purg. 28-33 describes the terrestrial Paradise and its
place in the order of the universe.
8. The whole of the Paradiso develops the graduai reve-
Ch. xvi] de monarchia 199
5. To these states of blessedness, just as to
diverse conclusions, man must come by diverse
means. To the former we come by the teachings
of j)hilosophy, obeying them by acting in con-
brjmi.ty.with the moral and intellectual virtues;^
larìon of God's self to man. For Dante* s valuation of the
tctive and speculative life, see De Mon. i. 3. 3, and note 14;
I. 4, and note i. See Conv, 2. 5, many parts of Conv. 3,
and Conv. 4. 21, 22, 23.
Conv, 4. 22. 5 : ** The use of the mind ìs doublé, that
is, practical and speculative. . . . Its practical use is to act
through US virtuously, that is, righteously, by temperance,
fortitude, and justice; the speculative is not to operate ac-
tively in us, but to consider the works of God and nature;
and the one and the other use make up our beatitude.'*
Conv. 4. 22. 9: **In our contemplation God is always
in advance of us; nor can we ever attain to Him here, who
is our supreme beatitude."
Conv. 4. 22. io: ** Our beatitude . . . we may first
find imperfecdy in the active life, that is, in the exercise of
the moral virtues, and then almost perfectly in the contempla-
tive life, that is, in the exercise of the intellectual virtues."
5. 7*. I. 2. 3. 8: ** The last and perfect happiness of man
cannot be other than in the vision of the Divine Essence. ' *
9. Conv. 4. 1 7 treats of the twelve moral virtues, which
include the cardinal, — fortitude, temperance, liberality, muni'
ficence, magnanimity, love of honor, meekness, afl^bility,
truth, discretion, justice, and prudence.
Canx. 3. 5 : **A11 virtues take their rise from one sole
root — that primal virtue, which makes mankind blest in
acting it — which is the elective habit.**
The cardinal virtues were the active virtues, as the theolo-
200 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
to the latter through spiritual teachings which
transcend human reason, and which we obey
by acting in conformity with the theological vir-
tues, Faith, Hope, and Charity.'° Now the^for-
mer end and means are made known to us by
human reason, which the philosophers have
wholly explained to us ; and the latter by the
Holy Spiri t, which has reveale^ to us supernat-
ùral but essential truth through the Prophets
gical were the contemplative. So Purg, 31. 107: ** Be-
fore that Beatrice descended to the world were we ordained
to her for handmaids. * ' And in Purg. 29. 130 the cardinal
virtues are on the left of the symbolic car.
IO. The theological virtues are called in Purg, 7. 34,
"the three holy virtues." Purg. 31. iii: *'The three
beyond who look more deeply.'* They are on the right of
the car in Purg. 29. 121: ** Three ladies, whirling on the
right wheel's side, carne dancing, the one so red that hardly
would she have been marked with fire; the second was as if
her flesh and bones had been made out of emerald ; the third
appeared snow but lately driven.'^
Thomas Aquinas discusses the cardinal virtues S. T. 1-2.
61 ; the theological virtues S. T. 1-2. 62.
Conv. 3. 14. 5: <«We believe that every mh-acle may
be reasonable to a higher intellect, and therefore possible.
Whence our precious faith has its origin, from which comes
the hope of things desired, but not seen ; and from this are
born the works of charity. By which three vh-tues we ascend
to philosophize in that celestial Athens, where Stoics, and
Peripatetics, and Epicureans, by the art of Eternai Truth,
harmoniously concur in one desire.'*
Ch. XVI] DE MONARCHIA 201
and Sacred Writers, through Jesus Christ, the
coeternai Son of God, and through His disci-
ples." Nevertheless, human passion would cast
ali these behind, were not men, like horses
astray in their brutishness, held to the road by
bit and rein."
11. De Man. 2. 8, and note i ; De Mon, 3. 16. 6.
12. This figure, which compares man to a horsc needing
bit and spur to keep him in his road and under control of his
rider, is almost as much a favorite with Dante as that of the
wax and seal. He must have found it originally in Ps. 32.
9: ** Be ye not as the horse or as the mule, which have no
understanding : whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle, lest they come near unto thee.'* The most impor-
tant uses of this metaphor are as follows: —
Conv. 4. 9. 3: ** The Emperor . . . is the rider of
human will, and it is very evident how wildly this horse
goes over the field without a rider.'*
Conv. 4. 26. 4: ««This appetite . . . should obey the
reason, which guides it with curb and spur."
Purg. 6. 88: *« What boots it that Justinian should have
put thy bit in order again, if the saddle is empty ? * '
Purg, 13. 40: ««This circle scourges the sin of envy,
and therefore are the lashes of the scourge wielded by love.
The rem will have to be of the contrary sound."
Purg. 14. 143: ** That was the hard bit which ought to
hold the man within his bound.**
Purg. 16. 94: «« It behoved to lay down laws for a bit;
it behoved to have a Idng who should discern of the true city
at least the tower."
Purg. 20. 55: **I found so fast within my hands the
rein of government of the kingdom, and such power of new
202 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
6. Wherefore a twofold directive agent was
necessary tò man, in accordance with the twofol.i
end ; the Supreme PontifF to lead the human
; race to life eternai by means of revelation/' and
the Emperor to guide it to tempora! felicity
; by means of philosophic instruction/'^ And
acquirement, and so full of friends, that to the widowed
crown was the head of my son promoted.** The words are
Hugh Capet*s. L. e. 22. 19; 25. 119: "Through this
place needs one to keep the rein tight on the eyes, because for
a little cause one might go astray." L. e. 28. 71: "The
Hellespont, ... a bridle stili to pride of men."
Purg. 33. 141: *' The bridle of my art lets me go no
further."
Par. 7. 26: " For not enduring to the faculty that wills
any curb, for its own advantage, that man who was never
born, in damning himself, damned ali his progeny."
13. Par, 5. 76: ** Ye have the old and new Testament,
and the Pastor of the Church who guides you ; let this suf-
fice you to your salvation." See De Mon. 3. 16. 5, and
note 9.
14. From the philosophic nature of the Convito and the
Comedy it is impossible to indicate here even the most impor-
tant sections devoted to philosophy, classical or mediaeval.
Conv. 3. II. 2 defines philosophy as ** No other than a
friendship for knowledge; wherefore any one might be called
a philosopher, according to that naturai love which inspires ali
men with a desire for knowledge." Z. r. 3. 1 1. 3 : ** Philoso-
phy has for subject the understanding, and for form an almost
divine loye for the intelligible.'* L. r. 3. 12. 4: ** Philo-
sophy is a loving use of Wisdom; which exists above ali in
God, because in Him is supreme Wisdom, and supreme Love,
Ch. xvi] DE MONARCHIA 203
since none or few — and these with exceeding
difficulty — could attain this port, were not the
waves of seductive desire calmed, andinanklnd
madé free to rest in the tranquillity of peacc,
therefore this is the goal which he whom we cali
the guardian of the earth and .Roman Prince
should most urgently seek ; then would it be
"possible for life on this mortai threshing-floor '^
to pass in freedom and peace. The order of
the world follows the order inherent in the re-
volution of the heavens. To attain this order
it is necessary that instruction productive of
liberality and peace should be applied by the
guardian of the realm, in due place and time,
as dispensed by Him who is the ever present
Watcher of the whole order of the heavens.
and supreme Power, which cannot exist elsewhere, except as
it proceeds from Him."
In Conv, 4. 6. 9 relations are established between philo-
sophic and imperiai authority. ** When joined together they
are most useflil and most filli of power. . . . Unite the
philosophical and the imperiai authority to mie well and per-
fectly."
Philosophy is, Purg. 6. 45, "A light bctwixt the truth
and understanding.'*
Purg. 18. 46: "Ali that reason has seen I can teli
thee.»'
15. ** In ainola ista mortalium." The same word is used
m the Italian form, ** aiuola,** in Par, 22. 151 and 27. 86.
204 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk. m
And He alone foreordained this order, that by
it in His providence He might link together
ali things, each in its own place.'^
7. If this is so, and there is none higher than
He, only God elects and only God confirms.
Whence we may further conclude that neither
those who are now, nor those who in any way
whatsoever have been, called Electors '^ have the
16. De Consol. Phil. 3. 9: '«Ali things Thou dost pro-
duce after the Divine Exemplar, Thou the most beautiful,
carrying in thy mind the beautiful world.*'
This idea of God's foresight and the foreordination of ali
things in the universe is found repeatedly in ali Dante' s writ-
ings. See quotations in notes to De Mon. i. 6.
Inf. 7. 72: "He, whose know^ledge transcends ali, made
the heavens, and gave them their guide."
Par. 18. 118: **The Mind wherein thy motion and thy
virtue have their origina'
17. '* In the Holy Roman Empire the college of lay and
ecclesiastical princes in whom the right of choosing the King of
the Romans was vested. With the extinction of the Carolin-
gian Hne, after the breaking up of the Empire of Charles the
Great, the kingship in Germany became elective, the right of
election residing in certain of the great feudatories, though
just in whom or on what grounds is not clear from the early
mediaeval accounts. An electoral body is vaguely mentioned
in chronicles ofii52, 1198, and i 230, but there is no clear
indication as to who composed the body. . . . The electo-
ral college was first clear ly defined in 1356 in the Golden
Bull, a constitution for the Holy Roman Empire, issued by
Emperor Charles IV. This document prescribed the exact
/
Ch. xvi] de monarchia 205
right to be so called; rather should they be
entitled heralds of divine providence. Whence
it is that those in whom is vested the dignity
of proclamation suffer dissension among them-
selves at times, when, ali or part of them being
shadowed by the clouds of passion, they discern
not the face of God's dispensation.
8. It is established, then, that the authority
of temporal Monarchy descends without medi-
ation from the fountain of universal authority.
And this fountain, one in its purity of source,
form and manner of elecrion of the * King of the Romans
and future Emperor.* Seven electors are there named, each
holding some hereditary office in the Imperiai court, (i)
Archbishop of Mainz, as Archchancellor of the Holy Roman
Empire for Germany; (2) Archbishop of Cologne, as Arch-
chancellor for Italy; (3) Archbishop of Treves, as Arch-
chancellor for the Gallic Provinces and Arles; (4) King of
Bohemia, Arch-Cupbearer; ( 5 ) Count Palatine of the Rhine,
Arch-Stevvard; (6) Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshal; (7)
Margrave of Brandenburg, Arch-Chamberlain. It seems
that the electors had no legai powers beyond that of election,
and though the German princes held that an election by the
German electors held for the Holy Roman Empire, the popes
contended that they alone as Vicars of God could bestow
the Imperiai dignity.** — New International Encyc. See also
Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, e. 14; Hallam, Middle Agesy
chap. 8, part 2 ; Turner, Germanie Constitution (New York,
1888); the Golden Bull is translated in Henderson, Select
Historical Documents of the Middle Ages (London, 1892).
!2o6 DANTE ALIGHIERI [Bk.
Ili
flows into multifarious channels out of the
abundance of its excellence.
9. Methinks I have now approached dose
enough to the goal I had set myself, for I have
taken the kernels of truth from the husks of
falsehoodj in that question which asked whether
the office of Monarchy was essential to the wel-
fare of the world, and in the next which made
inquiry whether the Roman people rightfully
appropriated the Empire, and in the last which
sought whether the authority of the Monarch
derived from God immediately, or from some
other. But the truth of this final question must
not be restricted to mean that the Roman Prince
shall not be subject in some degree to the Roman
PontifF, for felici ty that is mortai is ordered in
a measure after felicity that is immortal. Where-
fore let Caesar honor Peter as a first-born son
should honor bis father, so that, refulgent with
the light of paternal grace, he may illumine with
greater radiance the earthly sphere over which
he has been set by Him who alone is Ruler of
ali things spiritual and temporal.'^
18. This harmonious mie of two powers by the acknow-
ledgment of filial relationship between Pope and Emperor,
by recognition of the differing character of their functions, is
prayed for by Dante in many parts of the Convito and Com-
edy, and is stated most briefly and forcibly in Purg. 16. 107 ;
Ch. xvi] DE MONARCHIA 207
** Rome, that made the good worid, was wont to have two
suns, that showed the one and the other road, both of the
world and ofGod."
The dose of the Letter to the Princes and Peoples of
Italy is strangely like the dose of the De Monarchia. Pro-
daiming Henry VII as the rightful Emperor, Dante writes :
• * This is he whom Peter, the Vicar of God, admonishes us
to honor; whom Clement, now the successor of Peter, illu-
minates with the light of the apostolic benediction, in order
that wherc the spiritual ray docs not suffice, the splendor of
the lesser light may illumine. * * *
The dual organization of Church and Empire is also set
forth in symbolic fashion in Inf. 14. 102 fF., and in Dante*s
vision Purg. 32.
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London, 1872.
Villari, P., The Two First Centuries of Fiorentine
History. London, 1894-95.
INDEX
Adam, our first parent, 60 ; his sin pan-
ished in Chrìst, laS.
Aeacidae. 118.
Aeneas, tather of the Roman people,
79; compared to Hector. 80; his
wives, Sa, 83 ; his son, 83 ; nis shield,
86 ; Anchises' prophecy to, 103, 104 ;
in single combat, lao.
AeathoD, 161.
Alexander, iia, 114.
Alien, estimate of Dt Mom., 1.
Anchises, 103.
Antaeus, 108, no.
ApostUs, Acis o/thf, 108, 188.
Apostles, the twelve, 170, 181.
Ac^uinas. See Thomas Aquinas.
Anstotle, as writer on happiness, 4 ;
called Philosopher, 8, etc; Pol.^ 15,
19, 20, 45, 46, 77, I03, 105; EtA.,S,
33. 35. 48, 51. 58, 74. 80, 98, 105, 126,
136, 161, 179, iSp ; Me£.^ 30, 44, 47, 54,
55, 183, 192 ; PAys., 37, 103, 151, 193;
Sópk. EUnch., 150 ; A noi. Pr., 162 ;
Categ., 195 ; De Ah., 197.
Ascanius, 82.
Assaracus, 80.
Atalanta, 109.
Atlas, 81, 82.
AujKustine, 146; Cùy of God, 152;
r Christian Doctrine, 152.
Aoeustus, the divine monarch, 60 ;
Caesar, 115 ; ezerdser of Roman au-
thority, 127.
Ausonia, 131.
Averroes, his treatisc concerning the
Saul, 13.
Benedict, 182.
Boccaccio, Life of Dante, zzxiii.
Boethius, 29, 114.
Boniface Vili, assumption of Imperiai
dignity, nix.
Bruni, bis comment on the De Mon.,
XXXIV.
Brutos, 93.
Bryce, opmion of the Empire of Charles,
XXVI ; calls the De Mon. an epitaph,
xlvii; estimate of Hildebrand, xlix;
opinion of the De Mon., 1.
Caeaar, xziz, zliii, 69, 96, 137, 188, 189,
ao6. See also Augustus.
Caiaphu, 131.
Camillus, 93.
CanticUs, 178.
Cato, Marcus, 94, 96.
Cause, relation to effect, 7, 100 ; ani-
versal cause, 39 ; De Causis, 39,
Charles the Great, 181.
Chrìst, salutation, 16; incarnate God,
56 ; necessary to salvation, 106 ; the
door, 106; love of Justice, 116; the
poor, 124; His aid awaited, iiy,
oirth, 125 fj. ; Son of Man, 127 ; death,
128 n.; the sinof Adam punished in
Him, 128; redemption, 139; the
Bridegroom, 131, 145; one of the
Trinity, 136 j Son of God, 145; re-
bukes the pnests. 146 ; the Shepherd,
148 ; ruler of ali things, 161 ; con-
cerning the swords, 168 ; concernine
temperai goods, 170; the f oundation 01
the Church, 177 ; His life the form of
the Church, 194 ; Lord of the tempe-
rai kingdom, 195 ; co-etemal Son, aoi.
Chronicìes, Second, 108.
Church, its destitution, 124 £F. ; the
Mother, 142, 148 ; relation to ber o£
the Scriptures, 145 ff. ; the Bride, 145 ;
Councils of, 146 ; Decretals, 147 ;
traditions, 147 ; Chrìst its foundation,
177 ; disqualified for temperai power,
180 ; not the source of Imperiai power,
187 ff. ; lacks power of transference,
190 ff. ; lacks power to confer author-
ity, 193 ff. ; the form of , 194.
Church, Dean, relation of the De Mon-
to the Commedia, 1.
Cicero. SeelMVij.
Cincinnattis, 92.
Cloelia, 87,
Constantine, his donation referred to,
125, 131 ; healed by Sylvester, 175 ;
the donation, 175 ; nislack of power
to alienate Imperiai dignity, 176, 180;
his pift without Right, 189.
Convito. See Dante.
Corinthians, Epistle to, 177.
Councils, of the Church, 146.
214
INDEX
Creusa, 82.
Cupidity, 34, 35, 36, 37, 49 ; avarice, 92,
_93. 143-
Cyrus, 112.
Daniel, 136.
Dante, unity manifest in his works,
xvii ff . ; his politicai ideal, xix ff . ; his
religious ideal, xx £f .; politicai party,
xxvii ; exile, xxxi ; change in politics,
xl; relation to Henry VII, xliii; one
epitaph of, xlv. Convito, its pur-
pose, xviii ; nobility as denned
therein, xxxviii; date, xxxix ; mark-
ings on the moon, xli ; the last
Emperor, xlii. De Monarchia, its
purpose, xviii; the embodiment of
Dante's politicai message, xx ; sum-
mary of Book I, xxiii; Book II,
xxiv; Book III, xxvi ; a Ghibelline
treatise, xxx; Boccaccio's account,
xxxiii ; Bruni's comment, xxxiv ;
Villani's comment, xxxv; date of
composition, xxxv fi.; modemness of
some theories therein, xlviiifE.; opin-
ions of, 1. De Vulgari Elog-uentia,
its relation to the De Man. , xxxvii ;
date, xxxix. Paradiso, spurious re-
ference in De Mon., xli; see 43,
note 6.
Dardanus, 81, 82.
Darius, 112.
David, the sinner, 48 ; holiest of kings,
49 ; the Psalmist, 56, 195 ; and Go-
liath, 1 19 ; moved by the Holy Spirit,
136, 153 ; the Prophet, 145.
De Causis, 39.
Decii, 94.
Decretals, 144, 146.
De Monarchia. See Dante.
De Vulgari Eloqtientia. See Dante.
Dido, 83.
Digests, of the Roman Law, 88.
Dinsmore, his opinion of Dante's po-
liticai theories, xlix.
Electors, 204.
Electra, 81.
Elias, 171.
Empire. See Monarchy.
Empyrean, defined, xxi.
Ephesians, Epistle to, 129.
Epicurus, 92, 95.
Euclid, 4.
Euryalus, 109.
Evangelists, the four, 173.
Fabricius, 92, 122.
Fra Ilario, his apocrjrphal letter, xxxii.
Free will, 40-43.
Galen, 48.
Garamantes, 52.
Gefiesis, 149.
Ghibelline, Dante's party, xxvii ; de-
fined, xxviii; compared with Guelf,
xxviii flf.; eleraent of the De Mon.,
xxx ; Dante's adoption of , xl ; the
party's attitude toward Henry VII,
xlvi.
Gilbertus Porretanus. See Master of the
. Six Principles.
Ipod, Highef Nature, 3 ; Primal Good,
14; Monarch, 25; P'irst Agent, 25;
Single Mover, 28; suflficiency of,
29 ; the Lord, 67 ; Divine Providence,
68, 119; Prince of Heaven, 69; Pri-
mal Motor, 71 ; Ultimate Perfection,
72 ; Artist, 72 ; relation to Right,
73 ; His will invisible, 74 ; miracles,
84 ; First Agent, 85 ; Divine Intel-
ligence, IDI ; manif estation of His
Will, 108 ff.; love of Justice, 116 ff.;
Divine Will, 127; Father, 129 J one of
the Trinity, 136 ; manifest in nature,
138; Eternai Spirit, 153; relation to
His vicar, 162; limitation of power,
166; Prince of the Universe, 196;
Watcher of the heavens, 203 ; ruler
, of ali things, 206.
Golden Bull, xxx.
Goliath, 119.
Gospel, 78, 107, 118; of Luke, 131 ; of
John, 194.
Guelf, defined, xxviii ; compared with
Ghibelline, xxviii ff. ; the party's at-
titude toward Henry VII, xlvi.
Hadrian, Pope, 181.
Hallam, mention of Dante's politicai
work, li.
Hannibal, 87, 122.
Hebrews, Elisile to, 106.
Hebrews, 130.
Hector, 80.
Henry VII, his relation to;theZ>? Mon.,
xlii ff.; Dante's letter to, xlii ; failure
of Italian campaign, xlvi ; Dante's
eulogy of, xlvii.
Hera, xi8, 119.
Hercules, 108, 119.
Herod, 131.
Higher Nature, 3.
Hippomenes, 109.
Holy Spirit, its divine persuasìon,
63 ; one of the Trinity, 136 ; the in-
spìration of holy writers, 153 ; in the
Coundls, 146 ; revealer of truth,
200.
Homer, Od., 20; //., 80.
Hostilius, 121.
INDEX
CI
Intellect, man's differentiating charac-
terìstic, 13 ; active and speculative,
14. »5. 53. 6a, 74, 198.
Isaiah, the Prophet, 130; iospired by
Seraphinii 138.
Jacob, 47, 157-
Job, 153.
John, 130, 165 ; testifiesof Peter, 171 £F.;
Gospel of, 194.
Judah, 157.
Julius Caesar. See Caesar.
Justice, under a Monarch, 31 ; defined,
31 ; opposition to, 34; related tocu-
pidity, 36 ; related to charity, 38 ;
^hrìst's love of , 1 16 ; God's love of ,
118; in the Church, 134.
Javenal, 77.
Latinus, 83.
Lavinia, 83.
LeiUrs, relation tothe De Mon., xlii,
xliv ; Henry VI l 's coming, xliii ; par-
allel passages, xliv.
Leo, Pope, i8a.
Levi, 157.
LevUtcus, 106, i8g.
Livy, 79, 85, 86, 87, 92, 93, 94, 113, lai,
123.
Lowell, his idea of Dante's mission,
xix ; his opinion of the De Man., li.
Lucan, Pkarsaiia, 85, 108, 112, 113,
114, 122.
Luke, the writer of the gentleness of
Christ, 61 ; the scribe, 115, 127, 131 ;
argument of the sword, x68 ; Christ's
mandate conceming temperai goods,
i6g; testifiesof Peter, 172; Christ's
mission, 174; concerning temporal
gooda, 180.
Magi, 161.
Manhtis, 8^.
Mark, testifies of Peter, 172.
Master, Peter Lorobard, 163.
Master of the Six Principles, 33.
Matthew, testifies of Christ's presence
at Councils, 146; Christ's rebuke,
147, 153; oblation of the Magi, 161 ;
gawer given to Peter, 165 ; testifies of
eter, 171 ff. ; Christ's mission, 174;
forbids temporal possessions, 180.
Matthias, 108.
Melissus, 151.
Michael, 182.
[jlman,
fonarci
single mover of men, 29; supreme
judge, 30 ; immune from cupidity,
relation to Justice, 31, 34 ; cause
of men*8 well-being, 39 ; bas no
mies, 40 ; his influence on men, 43 >
chief servant, 46; best qualified to '
ru!e, 49; govemor in general mat-
tcrs, 53 ; relation to concord, 58 ;
Roman Prince, 69; Caesar, 69; in-
ability to alter Empire, 179; stand
ard of measurement, 185; relation
to God, 196 ; liumanity's guide to
temporal felicity, 202; guardian
" e earth, 203.
iTiPihji. UiiMwlpiTfTTif. 4 ; defined
5 ; necessary to numanity, 20, 23,
25. 27, 29, 30, 31, 40, 46, 49, 54, 59;
its authorìty not dependent on the
Church, 196; derived from God, .
Moses. CI. 8^T"^T«^-i5^, 1^4, ijyr^pa
Elias, 171 ; 191.
Mucius, 94.
Nature, the art of God, 9 ; purposeful- \
ness of , 9 ; sufficiency of , 29 ; super» I
fluity displeasing to, 50; threefold, j
71 ; instrument of divine art, 72 ; i
ordains ali thincs by Right, idi ; '
her intention is God's will, 138 ; me-
dium of God's acts, 190.
Ninus, III.
Numa Pompilius, 85, 86.
Orosius, 82, III, i2t.
Otto, the Emp>eror, 182.
Ovid, Met-t 108, 109, III.
Paradise, terrestrial and celestial, 198.
Paradiso. See Dante.
Parmenides, 151.
Paul, his salutation, 17; his testimony
of universal peace, 6 1 ; the Apostle,
123, 128, 129, 177 ; his admonition,
136, 153 ; his declaration to Festus,
188; tothe Jews, i8q.
Peace, Dante's search for, xxxì ; neces-
sary to human race, 16 ; other refer-
ences, see notes lyff. ; salutation of
Christ and disciples, 16 flE. ; chief of
man's blessings, 38 ; at Christ's
birth, 60 ; cherished by the Empire,
90; Christ brings not peace, but a
sword, i7a; freedom and peace, 203.
Peter, his blessing, i io ; keeper of the
keys, 137 ; the predecessor of the
Popes, 142, 160, 162 ; power deputed
by Christ, 164, 165, 167; spealcs of
the swords, 168 ff. ; characterized,
171 ff. ; Head Shepherd, 173; com-
S. manded to follow Christ, 194; his
^ name synonymous with Pope, 206.
eter Lombard, 163.
2l6
INDEX
Pharaoh, 84, 107.
Philosopher, the. See Aristotle.
Filate, vicar o£ Tiberius, 13 1 ; Chrìst
disciaims tempora! ambitions before,
194.
Poet, the. See Virgil.
Pope, disbelieves in supremaqr o£ the
Empire, 142 ; his blessing, 156 ;
power relative to God, 160, 162 ;
power defined, 167; Sylvester, 175; re-
ceives gifts not for possession, 181;
Hadrian, 181 ; Leo, 182 ; Benedict,
182 ; standard of measurement, 185 ;
the Head Shepherd, 194; Christ the
ideal, 194 ; humanity's guide to lite
eternai, 202 ; honor due to, 206.
Porsenna, 87, 94.
Priam, 81 ; his daughter Creusa, 82.
Primunt mobile, 28.
Proverbs, 135.
Psalmsy 116.
Pyrrhus, 96, 118, 119, 122.
Pythagoras, Correlations, 54.
Right, dwells in the mind of God, 73 ;
isthe divine will, 73, 74; in miracles,
84; defined, 88; the end of, 89, 97,
99; ordained by Nature, 100; in
single combat, 116; foundation of
Empire, 177.
/ Roman Empire, exists by Right, 70;
approved by miracles, 85 ; its source,
90; gained by single combat, 120 flE. ;
founded on human Right, 177.
Roman people, sovereign throughout
the earth, 68 ; not usurpers, 70,
76; the noblest people, 77, 83 ; had
m view the end of Right, 90, 97 ;
ordained for Empire by Nature,
} loi, 103 ; attained Empire by Right,
i 104 ; victorious over ali contestants,
I no; world jurisdiction, 115; victory
\ over Albanians, 121; over Sabines
I and Samnites, 121 ; over Phoeni-
i cians, 122; attained Empire by
Right, 131.
Romulus, 87.
Saviour. See Christ.
Samuel, 107, 158 £F.
Saul, 107, 158 fi.
Scartazzini, his theorjr of the date of
the De Man., xxxviii ff.
Scipio, 122.
Scriptures, the Holy, 106, 145, 146,
^ 148, 152.
Scythia, 141.
Scythians, 52, 122,
Seal and wax, 75, 195.
Semiramis, m.
Seneca, The Four Virtues, 89.
Shepherd, Christ, 148; Head Shep-
herd (Peter), 173 ; (Pope), 194.
Solomon, 135.
Sylvester, 175.
Testaments, Old and New, 145; the
two, 191.
Theophilus, 174.
Thomas Aquinas, Contra Gentiles, 84,
85.
Tiberius, 130.
Timothy, 123.
Tomyris, ri2.
Tully, defender of old age, 4 ; Rhet.,
89; De Off., 91, 96, 109, 117; D*
Fin., 92, 95.
Turnus, 83, 120, 121.
Unam Sanctam, Papal bull, xxix,
xxxviii, xl.
Vegetius, De Re Militari, 117.
Vesoges, ni.
Villani, mentions the De Moti., xxxv.
Virgil, Bucolics, 31 ; divine Poet, 78,
etc. ; Aeneid, 79, 80, 86, 93, 94, 103,
109, 114, 120.
Virgin Mother, 127.
Virifies, the Four, 89.
Virtues, moral, 199 ; theological, 200.
Word, 154.
Xerxes, 112.
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Cambridge t Mass., U.S. A.
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